Arthur Melville was arguably the most innovative and modernist Scottish artist of his generation and one of the finest British watercolourists of the nineteenth century, yet he avoided categorisation. In 1943 that the Scottish Colourist John Duncan Fergusson confessed that although they never met, "his work opened up to me the way to free painting - not merely freedom in the use of paint, but freedom of outlook". This book offers a comprehensive survey of Arthur Melville's (1855-1904) rich and varied career as artist-adventurer, Orientalist, forerunner of The Glasgow Boys, painter of modern life and re-interpreter of the landscape of Scotland. His travels inspired spectacular watercolours and paintings. This book illustrates around sixty of his works, each with a catalogue entry, and an essay by Kenneth McConkey, which discusses Melville's art and career.

Accompanies an exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery.

About the Author
Kenneth McConkey is Professor of Art History and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design, the University of Northumbria at Newcastle. He has written extensively about late Victorian and Edwardian painting. Charlotte Topsfield is Senior Curator of British Drawings and Prints at the Scottish National Gallery and has a particular interest in watercolours and Scottish drawings.


Book Information
ISBN 9781906270872
Author Kenneth McConkey
Format Paperback
Page Count 136
Imprint National Galleries of Scotland
Publisher National Galleries of Scotland