Robert Sholto Johnstone Douglas (3 December 1871 – 10 March 1958), known as Sholto Douglas, or more formally as Sholto Johnstone Douglas, was a
Scottish figurative artist, a painter chiefly of
portrait
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...
s and
landscapes.
In 1895, he stood
surety for the
bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countrie ...
of
Oscar Wilde.
Early life
Douglas was born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, a member of the aristocratic
Queensberry family, part of the
Clan Douglas
Clan Douglas is an ancient clan or noble house from the Scottish Lowlands.
Taking their name from Douglas in Lanarkshire, their leaders gained vast territories throughout the Borders, Angus, Lothian, Moray, and also in France and Sweden. ...
. He was the son of
Arthur Johnstone-Douglas Arthur Henry Johnstone-Douglas JP DL (23 June 1846 – 26 March 1923) was a Scottish soldier and politician.
Early life
Johnstone-Douglas was born on 23 June 1846 into Clan Douglas. He was the son of Robert Johnstone-Douglas of Lockerbie (1814� ...
DL JP of
Lockerbie (1846–1923) and his wife Jane Maitland Stewart, and the grandson of Robert Johnstone Douglas of Lockerbie, himself the son of Henry Alexander Douglas, a brother of the
sixth and
seventh
Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven.
Seventh may refer to:
* Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution
* A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts
Film and television
*"The Seventh", a second-season e ...
Marquesses of Queensberry. His paternal grandmother, Lady Jane Douglas (1811–1881), was herself a daughter of
Charles Douglas, 6th Marquess of Queensberry
Charles Douglas, 6th Marquess of Queensberry, (March 1777 – 3 December 1837), known as Sir Charles Douglas, 5th Baronet between 1783 and 1810, was a Scottish peer and member of Clan Douglas.
Early life
Douglas was the eldest son and heir of Si ...
, so she was her husband's first cousin. Douglas's third cousin and contemporary
John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry
John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry (20 July 184431 January 1900), was a British nobleman, remembered for his atheism, his outspoken views, his brutish manner, for lending his name to the " Queensberry Rules" that form the basis of ...
(1844–1900) was famous for the rules of the sport of
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
. Another cousin was
Lady Florence Dixie
Lady Florence Caroline Dixie (née Douglas; 25 May 18557 November 1905) was a Scottish writer, war correspondent, and feminist. Her account of travelling ''Across Patagonia'', her children's books ''The Young Castaways'' and ''Aniwee; or, The ...
, the
war correspondent and
big game hunter
Big-game hunting is the hunting of large game animals for meat, commercially valuable by-products (such as horns/antlers, furs, tusks, bones, body fat/oil, or special organs and contents), trophy/taxidermy, or simply just for recreation ("s ...
.
[Sholto Johnstone Douglas]
at panvertu.com, accessed 22 January 2008
Douglas studied art in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, at the
Slade School of Fine Art
The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
and also in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and
Antwerp.
[
Douglas's cousin Lord Alfred Douglas, or 'Bosie', was a close friend of the writer Oscar Wilde. When Wilde sued Bosie's father for libel when accused of "posing as a somdomite" (''sic''), this led to Wilde's downfall and imprisonment. In 1895, when during his trial Wilde was released on ]bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countrie ...
, Sholto Johnstone Douglas stood surety for £500 of the bail money.
In his ''Noel Coward: A Biography'' (1996), Philip Hoare writes of "...late nineteenth-century enthusiasts of boy-love; writers, artists and Catholic converts inclined to intellectual paedophilia, among them Wilde, Frederick Rolfe
Frederick William Rolfe (surname pronounced ), better known as Baron Corvo (Italian for "Crow"), and also calling himself Frederick William Serafino Austin Lewis Mary Rolfe (22 July 1860 – 25 October 1913), was an English writer, artist, ph ...
, Sholto Douglas and Lord Alfred Douglas."
Life and work
As a portrait painter, Douglas belonged to the period of John Singer Sargent and "...led a long life notable for its unassuming expression of civilized values".[''Sholto Johnstone Douglas'', obituary in '']The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', March 1958
He was at home in Scotland as a painter and as a sportsman, shooting
Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...
, riding and sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...
. He kept ponies
A pony is a type of small horse ('' Equus ferus caballus''). Depending on the context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. Compared ...
brought back from a visit to Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
. He came to attention at the Royal Academy by being the first artist to hang a painting there of a motor car
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as t ...
, but was best known for his portrait
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...
s and his Scottish landscapes, which "...portrayed, with a truly poetic sense of atmosphere, the subtle half-tones of his native countryside".[
In 1897, Douglas visited Australia and ]New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. His uncle John Douglas, a former Premier of Queensland
The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland.
By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...
and Governor of New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
, arranged for the author R. W. Semon to take Douglas with him on a visit to New Guinea. Semon wrote "This young Scotsman was just then staying with his uncle on Thursday Island
Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...
, being on his way back to Europe after a voyage to Australia and New Zealand."
In 1900, Douglas painted the author John Buchan. His portrait of his friend George Howson, headmaster of Gresham's School, hangs at the school.
In 1904, London's ''Temple Bar'' magazine reported
In June 1907, Douglas held an exhibition of his portraits at the Alpine Club
The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as:
:"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whi ...
in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. ''The International Studio'' noted that
In ''Scottish Painting, Past and Present, 1620-1908'' (1908), James Lewis Caw wrote of Douglas's portrait work:
However, Caw says elsewhere in the same book
In 1909, ''The International Studio'' said of a painting
On 9 November 1912, under the headline 'Sholto J. Douglas Coming Here', the ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported Douglas's sailing from London for the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, having "a number of commissions to paint portraits in New York".
His work also includes many paintings of " dazzle ships" during the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and the Imperial War Museum has fifty-two of these paintings.[
In December 1921, the novelist ]Arnold Bennett
Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...
noted in his journal that on Boxing Day he had lunched with Douglas and his wife at the Hotel Bristol
The Hotel Bristol is the name of more than 200 hotels around the world. They range from grand European hotels, such as Hôtel Le Bristol Paris and the Hotel Bristol in Warsaw or Vienna to budget hotels, such as the SRO (single room occupancy) ...
in Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...
to meet the Polish singer Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke (14 January 18503 April 1925) was a Polish tenor and opera star. Reszke came from a musically inclined family. His mother gave him his first singing lessons and provided a home that was a recognized music centre. His sister Josep ...
.
From 1926 to 1939, Douglas lived in France and painted many landscapes in Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
.[
Elsie Bonita Adams has compared Douglas to the character of Eugene Marchbanks in ]George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
's play Candida (1898):
In March 2005, a portrait by Douglas of the Scottish laird
Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...
Ian Brodie, 24th Brodie of Brodie, was accepted by the British government from Brodie's heir in lieu of tax.
Marriage and descendants
On 19 April 1913, Douglas married Bettina, the daughter of Harman Grisewood, of Daylesford, Gloucestershire
Daylesford is a small, privately owned village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Adlestrop, in the Cotswold district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England, on the border with Oxfordshire. It is situated just south of the A436 t ...
. They had one son and one daughter:
* Robert Arthur Sholto Johnstone-Douglas (b. 1914)
* Elizabeth Gwendolen Teresa Johnstone-Douglas (1916–2011), who married William Craven, 6th Earl of Craven
William Robert Bradley Craven, 6th Earl of Craven (8 September 1917 – 27 January 1965) was a British peerage, peer.
Early life
Craven was born on 8 September 1917 and was the only child of William Craven, 5th Earl of Craven and the former Mar ...
, in 1954.Tudor 5
at william1.co.uk, accessed 22 January 2009
Descendants
Through his daughter, he was a grandfather of Thomas Craven, 7th Earl of Craven (1957–1983), Simon Craven, 8th Earl of Craven (1961–1990), and Lady Ann Mary Elizabeth Craven (born 1959), the wife of Dr. Lionel Tarassenko
Lionel Tarassenko, (born 17 April 1957) is a British engineer and academic, who is a leading expert in the application of signal processing and machine learning to healthcare. He was previously Head of Department of Engineering Science (Dean of ...
.
See also
* List of British artists
References
External links
Sholto Johnstone DOUGLAS (1871-1958)
at artprice.com web site
at artnet.com web site
Sholto Johnstone Douglas
at arcadja.com/auctions web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Sholto Johnstone
1871 births
1958 deaths
Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art
19th-century Scottish painters
Scottish male painters
20th-century Scottish painters
Artists from Edinburgh
19th-century Scottish male artists
20th-century Scottish male artists