William McTaggart

Summer Sundown - Tir-nan-og

1880

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Not on display

Artist: William McTaggart 1835–1910
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: Support: 610 × 914 mm
frame: 887 × 1192 × 135 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Bequeathed by Sir James and Lady Caw 1951
Reference: N06044

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MacTaggart stayed regularly during the summer at the tiny fishing village of Machrihanish on the west coast of Scotland, where he painted this, probably out of doors. It is unusual for him in not including figures, as he often used the village children as models. He added the title Tir-nan-og to this painting, which is the name of a legendary Celtic paradise in the West. Like many Scottish artists and collectors, MacTaggart admired Joseph Israels and the Hague School of landscape artists, whose work is similar to his. James Cow, who bequeathed this painting, was a Director of the National Galleries of Scotland, and author of a biography of MacTaggart published in 1917.

Gallery label, September 2004

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