'Obsession, oblivion and rapture in the Cairngorms' - the enduring fantasy of Landseer comes to Grantown this May
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A new exhibition in Grantown-on-Spey is set to explore the Victorian creation of the Highlands as a site of romance and adventure.
Landseer – A Highland Romance – will bring together rarely seen works by the celebrated artist, Sir Edwin Landseer – a key figure in the artistic mythmaking of the landscape and its people through his commissions for high society patrons such as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Opening on May 13 and running until September 30 at Grantown Museum, the exhibition will bring together rarely seen works by the artist to explore how our sense of Highland culture has been shaped by his enduring imagery.
The display will include paintings from the Royal Collection, Woburn Abbey and The University of Dundee, as well as works on paper from private collections, and photographs from the museum’s own collection.
The loans are supported by the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund. Created by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Art Fund, the Weston Loan Programme is the first ever UK-wide funding scheme to enable smaller and local authority museums to borrow works of art and artefacts from national collections.
Two hundred years ago, Edwin Landseer followed his wealthy patrons from the upper-class drawing rooms of London to spend his summers in the wilderness of the Cairngorms.
The drama and mystery of the landscape would have a profound effect on the artist and his work, and he in turn would do much to popularise a romantic vision of the Highlands as an exotic northern wilderness.
Landseer’s obsession and fascination with the Cairngorms inspired the creation of a new visual identity for the Highlands during a time of great cultural and societal change.
Dan Cottam, manager of Grantown Museum said, "It will be a wonderful opportunity to get up close and personal with an incredibly talented artist, a household name in his day, whose position in society meant he played a hand in shaping the way people see the Highlands and Highlanders to this day.
"We are giving today’s Highlanders a chance to see some of Landseer's original paintings and sketches which are rarely seen in public and tell the story of the land that inspired him and his relationships with the influential people who shared his passions in and of the Cairngorms.
"We are most excited to bring The Highlander and The Highland Lassie from the Royal Collection back to the Highlands - two works created by the artist at the pinnacle of his career."
Sophia Weston, trustee of the Garfield Weston Foundation, said: “We are pleased that the Weston Loan Programme is supporting the display of these paintings at Granton-on-Spey’s community museum.
"Our programme is all about helping museums tell compelling stories through significant loans, and this is a perfect opportunity to encounter Landseer’s work amid the landscape that so inspired him.”
