Patrick Syme (1774–1845) was a Scottish flower-painter.

Life

An apple tree engraving by William Miller for William Archibald 1818

Syme was born in Edinburgh on 17 September 1774, and educated there. In the Scottish public exhibitions, which began in 1808, his flower-pieces were much admired. In 1803 Syme took up his brother's practice as a drawing-master, and concentrated on teaching. He was one of the associate artist members of the

Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

. He was also prominent in the foundation of the

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

, occupying the chair at the first meeting in May 1826, and becoming one of the council of four appointed there to manage its affairs. Towards the end of his life Syme was art master at

Dollar Academy Dollar Academy, founded in 1818 by John McNabb, is an independent co-educational day and boarding school in Scotland. The open campus occupies a site in the centre of Dollar, Clackmannanshire, at the foot of the Ochil Hills. Overview As of 20 ...

. He died at

Dollar, Clackmannanshire Dollar ( gd, Dolair) is a small town with a population of 2,800 people in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is east of Stirling. Toponymy Possible interpretations are that Dollar is derived from ''Doilleir'', an Irish and Scots Gaelic word mean ...

, in July 1845. He is buried in the parish churchyard the grave lying in the upper north-west section.

Works

If best known as a flower-painter, Syme painted portraits, and made natural history drawings of natural history. He published: *''Practical Directions for Learning Flower Drawing'' (1810) *A translation of

Abraham Gottlob Werner Abraham Gottlob Werner (; 25 September 174930 June 1817) was a German geologist who set out an early theory about the stratification of the Earth's crust and propounded a history of the Earth that came to be known as Neptunism. While most tenet ...

's '' Nomenclature of Colours'' (1814) * ''Treatise on British Song Birds'' (1823).

Family

Syme married Elizabeth Boswell of Balmuto daughter of Claud Irvine Boswell, Lord Balmuto, the judge. She had been his pupil since about 1810, the couple eloped in 1822, and her family's disapproval of the match was permanent. John Thomas Irvine Boswell the botanist was their son.

Notes

External links

Patrick Syme
at 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 ...

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Syme, Patrick 1774 births 1845 deaths Scottish watercolourists English watercolourists Scottish portrait painters