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'Springtime in Eskdale', 1935
by James McIntosh Patrick
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‘Springtime in Eskdale’ is a detailed landscape painting by the Scottish
artist James McIntosh Patrick. James McIntosh Patrick was born in Dundee, Scotland
and showed an early talent for drawing and painting. He admired the work of the
Glasgow School of painters such as Hornel and Henry, joining the Glasgow School
of Art as a second year student.
‘Springtime in Eskdale’ depicts ‘The Crooks’ in Eskdalemuir,
Dumfriesshire, Scotland, birthplace of the famous engineer, Thomas Telford (1757
– 1834). Patrick painted to mark the centenary of his death in 1934.
The painting shows people visiting a cottage, a farmer ploughing a field, and a
river in the middle ground. Light spreads evenly throughout the scene, except for
a long shadow in the foreground, suggesting that the artist looked down on the landscape
from on high.
Despite the unusual clarity of the painting, the colour and light in ‘Springtime
in Eskdale’ are particularly illusionistic. Patrick created his own vision
of the landscape by combining what he saw with what he imagined and remembered.
Patrick discovered the joys of painting outdoors during the Second World War while
serving in the camouflage units in North Africa and Italy. Later on he could commonly
be found in the fields, lanes and hedgerows around Dundee in Scotland, working at
his canvasses.
Patrick believed that his landscapes could encourage people to appreciate nature:
“I don’t suppose there is much sentimentality about my paintings, but
I have a deep feeling that Nature is immensely dignified when you are out of doors.
I am struck by the dignity of everything”.
The farm, the stone wall and the ploughed fields all point to a man-made rural environment,
rather than divine creation. One of the most distinct features of the painting is
the trees, which Patrick considered one of nature's greatest gifts. He never attempted
to draw a tree from memory, preferring to capture the rhythm of its structure from
direct observation. Patrick believed that by painting trees so vividly he could
persuade people to appreciate them more.
Patrick believed that his work was concerned with real life and the world around
us and that most of the work of his contemporaries revolved around art issues. He
remained a popular teacher until his eighties, only giving up painting in the last
few years of his life when his eyesight was failing.
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© National Museums Liverpool.
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