Erskine Nicol (3 July 1825 – 1904) was a Scottish figure and genre painter.

Life

He was born in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

on 3 July 1825 the eldest son of James Main Nicol and his wife Margaret Alexander. His father rented a property on Lochend Road and worked in a wine merchant (Wauchope & Moodie) at 133 Constitution Street. The family moved to Fife Place on

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to th ...

in the 1830s. After initial apprenticeship as a decorator he turned to art. He was a student at the Trustees' Academy on Picardy Place in Edinburgh, where he studied with Sir William Allan, and Thomas Duncan. On qualifying he initially taught as an Art Master at the old Leith High School. Erskine Nicol - A Nip Against the Cold

Nicol taught in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, from 1845–50, at the height of the

Irish famine The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...

, and identified with the oppression of the Irish people and much of his work portrays the injustices inflicted upon the Irish population during the 19th century. As well as everyday Irish life In 1850, he moved back to Edinburgh. He lived at 1 Blenheim Place, a fine Georgian flat at the top of

. He was made an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1851 and an

Academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

in 1859. Nicol exhibited at the Royal Academy and was made an

Associate 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 ...

in 1866. He also exhibited at the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

and the British Institution. In 1862 he left Edinburgh and moved to

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...

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 ...

, then in 1864 moved to 24 Dawson Place in west London. He also purchased a studio in Clonava in County Westmeath in Ireland and enjoyed finishing canvases there until ill-health forced him to curtail his travelling. He thereafter used a disused church in

Pitlochry Pitlochry (; gd, Baile Chloichridh or ) is a town in the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. It is historically in the county of Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.Scotlan ...

to complete his works. He died at The Dell,

Feltham Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston has been held by Labour Party ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, on 8 March 1904. He is buried with his second wife in

Rottingdean Rottingdean is a village in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. It borders the villages of Saltdean, Ovingdean and Woodingdean, and has a historic centre, often the subject of picture postcards. Name The name Rotting ...

. In 1905 the Royal Scottish Academy held a commemorative exhibition.

Selected works

*Wayside Prayers (1852; Tate, London) *Beggar My Neighbour (1855) *Irish Merry-Making (1856) *Donnybrook Fair (1856) *The Perch Fishers (1857) *The Approach of the Enemy (1859) *Portrait of Sir

William Fettes Douglas Sir William Fettes Douglas (1822–1891) was a Scottish painter and art connoisseur, rising to be President of the Royal Scottish Academy. Life He was born on 12 March 1822 at 26 Rankeillor Street in Edinburgh's South Side, the eldest son o ...

(1862) Royal Scottish Academy *Renewal of the Lease Refused (1863) *Irish Emigrants Waiting for the Train (1864) *The Emigrants (1864; Tate, London) *A Deputation (1865) *Collecting His Thoughts (1865)

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

Museums *Both Puzzled (1866) *A Country Booking-Office (1867) *Making Pills for the Saxons (1868) *The Crossroads (1868) *Steady, Johnnie, Steady (1870) *Kept In (1871) *The Missing Boat (1877)

Family

Nicol was twice married: first in 1851 to Janet Watson, who died in 1863, leaving two sons (including John Watson Nicol (1856–1926), who became a painter) and a daughter; second in 1865 to Margaret Mary Wood, who survived him, and by whom he had two sons (the elder, Erskine Edwin Nicol, also became a painter) and a daughter. Parish: Edinburgh South Leith; ED: 95; Page: 1; Line: 4; Roll: CSSCT1861_126

Notes

References

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External links

*
Erskine Nicol at Contemporary Irish Art

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicol, Erskine 1825 births 1904 deaths Artists from Edinburgh Scottish illustrators 19th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters 20th-century Scottish painters Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Associates of the Royal Academy 19th-century Scottish male artists 20th-century Scottish male artists