Erskine Nicol

The Emigrants

1864

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

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Not on display

Artist: Erskine Nicol 1825–1904
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: Support: 457 × 349 mm
frame: 714 × 650 × 115 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Presented by Sir Henry Tate 1894
Reference: N01538

Display caption

This picture shows Irish emigrants at Ballinasloe station on their way to Galway to board boats to America. This is one of a number of paintings on the very topical subject of emigration which appeared at public exhibitions around this time. They were intended to draw attention to the plight of the poor, and also to provoke a charitable response in the spectator.Erskine Nicol was born in Scotland but established his reputation painting Irish subjects.

Gallery label, July 2007

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