William Bell Scott learned landscape drawing from his father, who engraved landscapes.  As a young man, Scott gave up landscape in favor of history painting, a genre considered more elevated.  It was not until he met Alice Boyd that Scott returned to landscape.  In the early 1860s, Scott painted a remarkable series of seascapes that explored the effects of light.  While little known today, Scott’s pictures are a major contribution to pre-Raphaelite landscape painting.

Scott’s pre-Raphaelite landscapes include:

1. A View of Ailsa Craig and the Isle of Arran (1860)

Oil on canvas, 12-3/4 x 19-1/4 in.  Source:  Yale British Art Center

2. Arran, Recollection of Sunset (1860)

Oil on canvas, 12 x 17-3/4 in.  Source:  Sotheby’s; Fine Art Photographic Library

3. Dawn over the Sea (1861)

Oil on canvas, 14 x 20 in.  Source:  Julian Hartnoll; Bridgeman Image Library

4.  Sunset over the Sea (1861)

Oil on canvas, 13 x 19 in.  Source:  Ackland Art Museum

5.  The Gloaming: Manse Garden in Berwickshire (1863)

Oil on canvas, 16 x 24 in.  Source: Philadelphia Museum of Art

6.  Seascape on the Northumbrian Coast (1863)

Oil on canvas, 14-1/4 x 20-1/4 in.  Source:  William Morris Gallery

 

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