From the Selvedge Team: The Reverend Robert Walker
Polly Leonard, Founder and Editor in Chief of Selvedge Magazine shares her love of The Reverend Robert Walker by Sir Henry Raeburn and touches on how our students days always stay with us.
The Reverend Robert Walker by Polly Leonard
I spent my impressionable student years at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Interestingly, before I lived in Scotland, I had naively considered myself to be British, and only after spending time in Glasgow did I realise I was not British but English, and to be labelled as English was a derogatory term. But that's by and by.
During these memorable years, I occasionally enjoyed a day trip to Edinburgh to see an exhibition or visit a yarn shop on the Royal Mile. Sadly, I can't remember its name and am sure it is long gone. On one of these excursions, I discovered Reverand Robert Walker at the National Galleries of Scotland. The painting made a lasting impression; even now when I see it - it takes me back to those happy years as a student.
At the time, I did not know Henry Raeburn's work. Still, I loved the stark composition, which reminded me of Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 by James McNeil Whistler, a painting of his mother with a similar silhouetted composition against a grey background. The portrait evokes Japanese woodblock prints, protestant puritan architecture and Duch old master paintings, all influences that helped shape my aesthetic.
I am not the only person who loves this painting. Please take a look at how this image has become part of Scottish identity.
Image: The Reverend Robert Walker by Sir Henry Raeburn
Text by Polly Leonard, Founder of Selvedge Magazine
The Reverend Robert Walker by Polly Leonard
I spent my impressionable student years at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Interestingly, before I lived in Scotland, I had naively considered myself to be British, and only after spending time in Glasgow did I realise I was not British but English, and to be labelled as English was a derogatory term. But that's by and by.
During these memorable years, I occasionally enjoyed a day trip to Edinburgh to see an exhibition or visit a yarn shop on the Royal Mile. Sadly, I can't remember its name and am sure it is long gone. On one of these excursions, I discovered Reverand Robert Walker at the National Galleries of Scotland. The painting made a lasting impression; even now when I see it - it takes me back to those happy years as a student.
At the time, I did not know Henry Raeburn's work. Still, I loved the stark composition, which reminded me of Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 by James McNeil Whistler, a painting of his mother with a similar silhouetted composition against a grey background. The portrait evokes Japanese woodblock prints, protestant puritan architecture and Duch old master paintings, all influences that helped shape my aesthetic.
I am not the only person who loves this painting. Please take a look at how this image has become part of Scottish identity.
Image: The Reverend Robert Walker by Sir Henry Raeburn
Text by Polly Leonard, Founder of Selvedge Magazine
1 comment
What a delightful and informative offering. Loved the video!