John Taylor.
Painted by Sir John Watson Gordon. Engraved by W.A. Cox.
Published by The Gainsborough Galleries Liverpool. Copyright 1923.
Colour printed mezzotint. Plate 438 x 285mm. 17¼ x 11¼".
This portrait of John Taylor ( fl. 1807 - 1825) and his caddy is one of the greatest golfing images. It shows Taylor, in his red captain's jacket, about to tee off on the original course of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers on Leith Links, two miles north-east of the city centre. In 1744 this group (then known as 'the gentlemen golfers') had drawn up the first official rules for a tournament which were to form the basis for the modern game of golf. The club moved to Musselburgh in 1836 and further down the coast to Muirfield at the end of the nineteenth century. This is from an impressive oil painting by Sir John Watson Gordon (1788 - 1864) in the National Galleries of Scotland. Gordon was training to become an army engineer when, encouraged by his uncle, the painter, George Watson, and Raeburn, who was a family friend, he decided to become an artist. His first works were subject pictures but, after Raeburn's death in 1823, he established himself as the leading portrait painter in Scotland. His style was at first closely based on Raeburn but was later more influenced by his admiration for Velázquez. After Raeburn's death in 1823, Watson Gordon became Scotland's leading portrait painter.
National Galleries of Scotland: PGL 342.
[Ref: 19893] £260.00
Published by The Gainsborough Galleries Liverpool. Copyright 1923.
Colour printed mezzotint. Plate 438 x 285mm. 17¼ x 11¼".
This portrait of John Taylor ( fl. 1807 - 1825) and his caddy is one of the greatest golfing images. It shows Taylor, in his red captain's jacket, about to tee off on the original course of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers on Leith Links, two miles north-east of the city centre. In 1744 this group (then known as 'the gentlemen golfers') had drawn up the first official rules for a tournament which were to form the basis for the modern game of golf. The club moved to Musselburgh in 1836 and further down the coast to Muirfield at the end of the nineteenth century. This is from an impressive oil painting by Sir John Watson Gordon (1788 - 1864) in the National Galleries of Scotland. Gordon was training to become an army engineer when, encouraged by his uncle, the painter, George Watson, and Raeburn, who was a family friend, he decided to become an artist. His first works were subject pictures but, after Raeburn's death in 1823, he established himself as the leading portrait painter in Scotland. His style was at first closely based on Raeburn but was later more influenced by his admiration for Velázquez. After Raeburn's death in 1823, Watson Gordon became Scotland's leading portrait painter.
National Galleries of Scotland: PGL 342.
[Ref: 19893] £260.00