Patrick NASMYTH (1787-1831) - Lot 243

Lot n° 243
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Estimation :
500 - 600 EUR
Patrick NASMYTH (1787-1831) - Lot 243
Patrick NASMYTH (1787-1831) Landscape with cottage and figures Oil on panel signed lower left and dated 1829 On the reverse, an old label of sale at the Hotel Drouot on Friday 22 May 1914. The lot was then n°278 30 x 42 cm Patrick Nasmyth was born on 7 January 1786 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, Alexander Nasmyth, a well-known landscape painter, named his eldest child after his dear friend Patrick Millar of Dalwinston, who was one of the inventors of steam navigation. Patrick's youngest brother, James, would become a prominent engineer and invent the steam hammer and several of the siblings would become painters like their famous father and brother. In total, there would be four sons and seven daughters in the Nasmyth family. Patrick started drawing almost as soon as he learned to hold a pencil. It was probably a bit of luck that Patrick was born in the home of an artist. He was a poor scholar and unable to resist the lure of a sunlit landscape, he often skipped school altogether. For him, pencils were for drawing flowers and trees. While preparing for a sketching trip with his father, young Nasmyth injured his right hand. Not one to give up his beloved art, Patrick simply switched to his left hand and continued with little difference in the finished pieces. These early left-handed pieces would become highly sought after at the time of his death. Scottish landscape painters have a major enemy in time. Most landscape painters were faced with the choice of practicing in the rain or working from memory in their studios. Hating to give up even a day's painting, Patrick designed a travel tent the size of the stands used for Punch puppet shows. While his contemporaries scoffed at his invention, he made use of the Scottish countryside even in the worst weather. A biographer of Nasmyth assured his readers that the stand was never set up on mountain tops "when the storm was most fierce." However, this statement seems to leave open the possibility that Patrick used his shelter in dangerous conditions. Unfortunately, the young artist became deaf at the age of 17. At 23, Patrick traveled to London and exhibited a painting of Loch Katerine at the British Institution. The young painter was quickly recognized as a great talent and was called the English Hobbima after the great Flemish painter of the 1600s. Despite early acceptance by the art community, Patrick suffered from a lack of patronage. His work would sometimes sell to a generous or discerning admirer, but he often had to paint quickly and sell to dealers at reduced prices to support himself. Patrick Nasmyth died on 17 August 1831 at the relatively young age of 45. His tombstone read: "He was a native of Scotland and his country was justly proud of his talents. As a landscape delineator, the productions of his pencil, tasteful and vivid, reflect honour on the department of the British School. In his own way he was as modest and unassuming as in his profession he was skillful and eminent. This stone was erected by Scottish artists resident in London - a humble but sincere tribute to his memory.
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