Though best known as a painter in oil, McWhirter did much work in water-colour, especially upon foreign tours in France, Switzerland and Italy. He also visited Sicily, Austria, Turkey, Norway and the United States. Some of his early work is strong and direct. This applies, for instance, to drawings which he made as a member of a Sketching Club of Scottish artists in London, who from about 1870 to 1885 used to hold evening meetings in one or the other’s studio. The subject was usually indicated in a single word— ‘Joy’, ‘Sorrow’, ‘Destruction’, ‘Frolic’, ‘Childhood’ and the time allowed was an hour to an hour and a half. A water-colour made by McWhirter under these conditions, Destruction, depicts a burning castle—the dark mass of ruins, the withered trees, and the red glare in the sky making a fine piece of composition and harmonious colouring. — Martin Hardie III, p. 199.
Works
Bibliography
Hardie, Martin. Watercolour Painting in Britain. Ed. Dudley Snelgrove, with Jonathan Mayne and Basil Taylor. 3 vols. London: B. T. Bbatsford, 1968.
Wood, Christopher. Research by Christopher Newall. The Dictionary of Victorian Painters. 2nd ed. Woodbridge: Antique Collector’s Club, 1978.
Created 21 April 2021