Burns and Highland Mary by Thomas Faed c

Thomas Faed RSA (1826–1900) was a Scottish painter who is said to have done for

Scottish art Scottish art is the body of visual art made in what is now Scotland, or about Scottish subjects, since prehistoric times. It forms a distinctive tradition within European art, but the political union with England has led its partial subsumation ...

what

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

did for Scottish song.

Life

Faed was born on 8 June 1826, at Barlay Mill in

Gatehouse of Fleet Gatehouse of Fleet ( sco, Gatehoose o Fleet gd, Taigh an Rathaid) is a town half in the civil parish of Girthon and half in the parish of Anwoth divided by the river Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire, within the district council region of Dumfries and ...

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative count ...

, and was the brother of the artists

James Faed James Faed (4 April 1821 – 23 September 1911) was one of three famous Scottish brother painters/artists. Early life James was the second son of the six children of James Faed, tenant of Barlay Mill, near Gatehouse of Fleet, Galloway, and Mary ...

John Faed John Faed, R.S.A. (31 August 1819 – 22 October 1902) was a Scottish painter. Life John was the eldest son of the six children of James Faed, tenant of Barlay Mill, Galloway, and Mary Faed, ''née'' McGeoch. Two other sons, Thomas, and Ja ...

and Susan Faed. He received his art education in the school of design, Edinburgh and was elected an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1849. He went to London three years later, was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1861, and academician in 1864, and retired in 1893. He had much success as a painter of domestic genre, and had considerable executive capacity. In 1850 he was living at 16

Comely Bank Comely Bank (; gd, Bruach Cheanalta, IPA: �pɾuəxˈçɛnəɫ̪t̪ʰə is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It lies southwest of Royal Botanic Garden and is situated between Stockbridge and Craigleith. It is bound on its norther ...

in north Edinburgh with his brother James Faed, an engraver. During his time in Edinburgh he was a member of the Edinburgh Smashers Club alongside

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 ...

. Three of his pictures, ''The Silken Gown'', ''Faults on Both Sides'', and ''The Highland Mother'' are in the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

and a further two, ''Highland Mary'' and ''The Reaper'' hang in the Aberdeen Art Gallery. ''The Last of the Clan'', completed in 1865 and arguably his best known work, is in the Kelvingrove Gallery in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He produced several versions of this work, including a smaller version now in

The Fleming Collection The Fleming Collection is a large private collection of Scottish art. Originally a corporate collection dominating the walls of the Flemings bank, it had a home in a gallery on Berkeley Square, central London, England from 2002 until the gallery's ...

. Two other celebrated pictures are ''The Motherless Bairn'' and ''Scott and His Literary Friends at Abbotsford''. He died in London on 17 August 1900.

References

* This book provides much information on Thomas Faed and the other Faed artists, and contains many photographs of the artist's paintings. It is out of print but may be found in libraries.

External links

*
Thomas Faed at artcyclopedia.com

Phryne's list of paintings in accessible collections in the UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faed, Thomas 1826 births 1900 deaths Royal Scottish Academicians Royal Academicians 19th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art 19th-century Scottish male artists