Arthur Melville
Oxford Grove Art:
Top
Arthur Melville
(b Loanhead of Guthrie, Angus, Tayside, 10 April 1858; d Redlands, nr Witley, Surrey, 28 Aug 1904). Scottish painter. He was trained in Edinburgh under James Campbell Noble (1846-1913) and at the Royal Scottish Academy Schools. His early works are peasant subjects in a subdued tonal style. While at the Acad?mie Julian in Paris and at Grez-sur-Loing (1878-81) he developed a colouristic watercolour style with strong chiaroscuro. This was consolidated during his journey in 1881 to Egypt and Constantinople, and on trips between 1890 and 1893 to Spain (with Frank Brangwyn) and North Africa. Contrasts of strong sunlight and coloured shadows were created in his 'blottesque' technique of colour droplets on paper saturated with Chinese white: sponge and brushwork were used to clarify form, as in Little Bullfight: 'Bravo Toro' (c. 1888-9; London, V&A). He was associated with the Glasgow Boys and influenced their development of colour and design. His closest contact with them came during outdoor sketching trips in Scotland between 1882 and 1889, and in Paris in 1886 and 1889. In 1886 he became an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy and developed a strongly decorative oil style, seen in Audrey and her Goats (1884-9; London, Tate). In 1889 he moved to London, and his subsequent work includes a Whistlerian phase, exemplified by White Piano (1897; Preston, Harris Mus. & A.G.) and the Venice 'nocturnes'. His series of watercolours depicting scenes at Spanish bullfights, such as Bullring Crowd (Kirkcaldy, Fife, Mus. & A.G.), shows his developing interest in crowd movement and spatial contrast. Watercolour remained his principal medium, and he was elected to the Royal Scottish Water Colour Society in 1900.
See the Abbreviations for further details.
Related Videos:
Top
Arthur Melville
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Arthur Melville
Arthur Melville (1858–1904) was a Scottish painter, now probably best remembered for his Orientalist subjects.
He was born in Scotland, in a village of Haddingtonshire. He took up painting while working as a grocer's apprentice, then attended the Royal Scottish Academy Schools and studied afterwards in Paris and Greece, he learnt more from practice and personal observation than from school training. The remarkable colour-sense which is so notable a feature of his work, whether in oils or in watercolour, came to him during his adventurous travels in Persia, Egypt and Turkey from 1880–82, where he by no means stuck to the major cities, travelling alone on long inland journeys. To convey strong Middle Eastern light, he developed a technique of using watercolour on a base of wet paper with gouache applied to it.
Melville, though comparatively little known during his lifetime, was one of the most powerful influences in the contemporary art of his day, especially in his broad decorative treatment with water-colour, which influenced the Glasgow Boys. Though his vivid impressions of color and movement are apparently recorded with feverish haste, they are the result of careful deliberation and selection. He was at his best in his watercolors of Eastern life and color and his Venetian scenes, but he also painted several striking portraits in oils and a powerful colossal composition of The Return from the Crucifixion which remained unfinished at his death in 1904. The Victoria and Albert Museum has one of his watercolours, The Little Bull-Fight Bravo, Toro! and others, like An Oriental Goatherd in the Weimar Museum, are in many museums, especially in Scotland. But many of his pictures remain with private collectors.
A comprehensive memorial exhibition of Melville's works was held at the Royal Institute Galleries in London in 1906.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
External links
- Arthur Melville online (ArtCyclopedia)
- Biography of Arthur Melville (Gracefield Arts Centre)
- Passion and intrigue of an Eastern love affair - Arthur Melville's watercolours (The Independent, 13 August 1996)
- Paintings by Melville (Bridgeman Art Library)
- The Sapphire Sea (watercolour, 1892 - The Scottish Gallery)
- After the Play (Chalk - Christie's)
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
Oxford Grove Art
The Concise Grove Dictionary of Art. Copyright © 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Read more
