Charlotte Nasmyth (17 February 1804 – 26 July 1884) was a Scottish painter whose works were regarded at the time as "gems", and which are now included in the collections of the Scottish National Gallery and other museums.

Biography

Charlotte was born in St Andrew's parish,

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 ...

, one of eleven children, including six daughters, of

Alexander Nasmyth Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants li ...

, the "foremost landscape artist of his day". Charlotte, in common with her siblings

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, Barbara, Margaret, Elizabeth, and

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, worked as a studio assistant to her father in Edinburgh, and also taught art classes. After the death of their father in 1840, his legacy and an auction of 155 of the family's paintings gave the Nasmyth sisters financial independence, and enabled them move to England. Between 1831 and 1866, Charlotte exhibited her romantic landscapes and other works at the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

, the

Royal 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 ...

, 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 ...

, and other institutions. She painted mainly in oils, and sometimes in watercolours, and also produced some etchings. Her subjects include landscapes of north Wales and various regions of England, as well as Scotland, indicating that she travelled widely throughout Britain. She was the most prolific artist of the six sisters. Modern writers have described her as "the most flamboyant and wildest", working "with a greater freedom and panache than her sisters". Contemporary reviewers described Charlotte's paintings as "little gems", "delicious small-room pictures ... meant to .. form the individual treasure of some limited sphere of its own." Gnarled tree trunks with broken branches were a favourite subject of Charlotte's, and a reviewer in 1866 wrote of one of her landscapes, "This is the finest bit of tree painting in the exhibition; vigorous, crisp, and beautiful in colour." Charlotte died in Putney, Surrey, in 1884. A portrait of Charlotte by William Nicholson is in the collection of the National Galleries Scotland, and another by Andrew Geddes is in the British Museum.

Works

Works by Charlotte are held by the

Scottish National Gallery The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...

, the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...

Fine Art Collections,

Alloa Tower Alloa Tower in Alloa, Clackmannanshire in central Scotland is an early 14th century tower house that served as the medieval residence of the Erskine family, later Earls of Mar. Retaining its original timber roof and battlements, the tower is o ...

(the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland ( gd, Urras Nàiseanta na h-Alba), is a Scottish conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organ ...

), and Hill Top and the Beatrix Potter Gallery (the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

Selected works

* ''Highland Pass'' * ''Hampstead Heath'' * ''Musselburgh'' * ''The Bay of Naples'' * ''Pastoral Landscape'' * ''Kincardine Castle, Perthshire'' * ''View of Alloa and Stirling Castle from Clackmann Hill'' * ''The Entrance to Loch Katrine'' * ''At Barnes, near Putney'' * ''Penshurst Park, Kent'' * ''Near Penryn, North Wales'' * ''A Wooded Landscape with Travellers on a Path'' * ''View in Essex'' * ''Derwent Water'' * ''Strathearn, Perthshire'' * ''Burnham Beeches'' * ''Mill at Barton, Lancashire'' * ''Cottage in Epping Forest'' * ''Distant View of London from Norwood'' * ''Cottage of North Hope, North Wales''

References

External links

*
images of Charlotte Nasmyth's paintings
on ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Nasmyth, Charlotte 1804 births 1884 deaths 19th-century Scottish painters 19th-century Scottish women artists Artists from Edinburgh Landscape painters Scottish landscape painters Scottish women artists Sibling artists