Alexander Johnston (1816 – 1891) was a Scottish painter, known for genre and history paintings.

Life

Born at

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, he was son of an architect, who placed him at the age of fifteen with a seal-engraver there. He was a student in the

Trustees' Academy Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

from 1831 to 1834, when he went to London with an introduction to Sir David Wilkie. He entered the schools of the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

under William Hilton in 1836. Johnston died at 75 Carlingford Road,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, after a short illness, on 2 February 1891. His brother, Douglas Johnston, a musician in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, predeceased him.

Works

While in Edinburgh Johnston took up portrait-painting, and he brought with him to London some portraits of Dr. Morison's family, which he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1836 and 1837. In 1838 he exhibited there his first subject picture, ''The Mother's Prayer'', and sent his ''Scotch Lovers'' to the

Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

. In 1839 his picture of ''The Mother's Grave'' at the Royal Academy attracted favourable notice, while ''The Gentle Shepherd'' (1840) and ''Sunday Morning'' (1841) (formerly in the Bicknell collection and engraved by F. Bromley) established his popularity. Lady of the Lake Johnston

In 1841 Johnston exhibited his first historical picture, ''The Interview of the Regent Murray with Mary Queen of Scots'', which was purchased by the Edinburgh Art Union. In later years he was a contributor to all the main exhibitions. ''The Covenanter's Marriage'' (1842) was engraved by C. Lightfoot for ''Gems of Modern Art''. ''A Scene from the Lady of the Lake'', illustrating the

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

, obtained a premium from the Liverpool Academy in 1849; and ''Prince Charles's Introduction to Flora Macdonald after the Battle of Culloden'' was awarded by the

Glasgow Art Union Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

a premium (declined). In 1845 Johnston exhibited ''Archbishop Tillotson administering the Sacrament to Lord William Russell in the Tower'', which was purchased by Robert Vernon, formed part of ''The Vernon Gallery'', and went to the National Gallery (engraved by T. L. Atkinson and Charles Henry Jeens). Johnston was still an exhibitor in 1884.

Notes

External links

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Alexander 1816 births 1891 deaths 19th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters Artists from Edinburgh Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Scottish portrait painters 19th-century Scottish male artists