William Bell Scott
William Bell Scott (1811–1890) was a Scottish artist in oils and
He painted a cycle of historical subjects mixed with scenes from modern industry for
He did not paint many portraits, but his striking portrait of his friend Algernon Charles Swinburne is the iconic image of the poet. His etchings were mostly designed to illustrate his books.
Life
The son of Robert Scott (1777–1841), the engraver, and brother of David Scott, the painter, he was born in Edinburgh.[3] While a young man he studied art and assisted his father, and he published verses in the Scottish magazines.
In 1837, Scott went to London. There he became sufficiently well known as an artist to be appointed in 1844 master of the government school of design at
After 1870 Scott was much in London, where he bought a house in Chelsea, and he was an intimate friend of Dante Gabriel Rossetti[3] and in high repute as an artist and an author. He was, however, at daggers drawn with John Ruskin.[4]
He resigned his appointment under the Science and Art Department in 1885, and from then until his death he was mainly occupied in writing his reminiscences, Autobiographical Notes, which were published posthumously in 1892, with a memoir by Professor Minto. It is for his connection with Rossetti's circle that Bell Scott will be chiefly remembered.[3]
Artwork
In addition to oil paintings, Bell Scott did much decorative work, notably at Wallington Hall. There Pauline, Lady Trevelyan commissioned him, after coming across his 1850 Memoir of his brother David Scott.[5] He produced eight large pictures illustrating Northumbrian history, with life-size figures, supplemented by eighteen pictures on The Ballad of Chevy Chase in the spandrels of the arches of the hall. For Penkill Castle he executed a similar series, illustrating James I's poem The Kingis Quair.[3]
Writings
Scott's poetry, which he published at intervals (notably Poems, 1875, illustrated by
Family
In 1839 Scott married Letitia Margery Norquoy (1813–1898); the marriage was childless. In Newcastle he had as a pupil Alice Boyd, the sister of the then-laird of Penkill Castle in Scotland. In 1860, Bell Scott visited Penkill Castle and began a liaison with Alice that would last until his death at Penkill in 1890. Although unhappily married, Bell Scott refused to cause a scandal by leaving his wife, and a workable ménage à trois was established: Alice spent winters with William and Letitia in London, while they came to Penkill in the summers.[6]
References
- ISBN 3791312545
- ^ National Portrait Gallery, London
- ^ a b c d e f Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Tim Hilton, John Ruskin (2002) p. 644. 'The publication of Our Sketching Club gave an opportunity to ... Ruskin's old enemy, to write a hostile review in which he repeated many of his earlier criticisms of The Art of Drawing.'
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/24938. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Hermes. "William Bell Scott, Alice Boyd, and Penkill". Pre Raphaelite Art website.
External links
- William Bell Scott biography
- 44 artworks by or after William Bell Scott at the Art UK site
- William Bell Scott at Future Museum, South West Scotland.
- Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 51. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- Works by William Bell Scott at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by William Bell Scott at Project Gutenberg