William Gouw (Gow or Gowe) Ferguson (1632/3 – in or after 1689) was a Scottish painter of still life.

Biography

A native of Scotland, Ferguson is stated to have first studied art in his own country, and then travelled in France and Italy. In 1660 Ferguson was living at the Hague, where he hired a house, and in 1668 he was still there. Part of the contract for his house consisted in a promise to paint a picture every year for the proprietor of the house. In 1681 he was living in the Batavier Graat, Amsterdam, and on 28 June he was betrothed to Sara van Someren of Stockholm.

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

mentioned that "he lived long in Italy and France". The place and exact date of his death is unknown. His last known dated painting bears the year 1689. cites: Christies, London, 10 November 1967. He is stated to have returned and to have died in London, but he may have returned to Scotland as twelve of his painting were sold in Edinburgh between 1692 and 1693.

Works

Ferguson acquired a good reputation in painting dead game and still life. There are good examples of his paintings in this style in the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

at Amsterdam and in the

Berlin Gallery The Berlinische Galerie is a museum of modern art, photography and architecture in Berlin. It is located in Kreuzberg, on Alte Jakobstraße, not far from the Jewish Museum Berlin, Jewish Museum. History The Berlinische Galerie was founded in 19 ...

. He also painted pictures introducing ruins and fragments of sculpture, with figures in the Italian style, under strong effects of light and shade. An example of this style is in the National Gallery of Scotland. His pictures have in the past been considered favourably with works by then more fashionable artists, and signatures of Cornelis van Lelienbergh and Jan Weenix have been found on painting since attributed to him. File:A Pigeon and Magpie by William Gouw Ferguson - William Gouw Ferguson - ABDAG002357.jpg, ''A Pigeon and Magpie'', 1685, Aberdeen Art Gallery File:William Gowe Ferguson 001.jpg, ''Still life with birds'', 1662,

File:WILLIAM GOWE FERGUSON Still life with game birds and implements of the chase on a draped stone ledge.jpg, ''Still life with game birds and implements of the chase on a draped stone ledge'' File:Stilleven met witte haan, William Gowe Ferguson, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 1914-DC, na restauratie.jpg, ''Still life with white cock'',

Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent The Museum of Fine Arts ( nl, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, MSK) an art museum in Ghent, Belgium, is situated at the East side of the Citadelpark (near the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst). The museum's collection consists of some 9000 artworks ...

References

* * ;Attribution * **Redgrave's Dictionary of Artists **Bryan's ''Dictionary of Painters and Engravers'', ed. Graves **''Catalogues of the galleries mentioned above'' **information from Mr. A. Bredius. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, William Gouw Year of death missing Year of birth uncertain Scottish expatriates in the Netherlands 17th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters