Ailsa Craig by William Bell Scott, 1811-90. 1860. Oil on canvas, 12 13/16 x 19 ¼ inches (32.5 x 48.9 cm). Signed and dated. Courtesy of the Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection B1976.7.151. Click on image to enlarge it.
Alicia Craig is the small pyramid-shaped island seen in the centre distance in this painting. It is located sixteen kilometers off the western coast of Scotland. The view was likely painted from Penkill Castle and is one of several paintings by Scott of the view towards Ailsa Crag. Scott had painted few landscapes prior to 1860 and this one, painted in July 1860, must be one of his first. It was Alice Boyd who had persuaded him to return to landscape painting and this is a brilliant example of a Pre-Raphaelite landscape. It may have been influenced by William Holman Hunt’s Fairlight Downs – Sunlight on the Sea. Scott admired Hunt’s work and had likely seen this small painting when it was exhibited at the French Gallery in London in 1858. -- Dennis T. Lanigan
Last modified 27 July 2020
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