Treasures in the Scottish Art Museums/Galleries

It’s amazing how each adventure abroad has a different theme, activities, and of course the amount of painting I do (I've learned, the weather can be a great factor lol)! Before we left, I read that Autumn in Scotland usually entails wind, cold, and most likely rain...in fact, in several online sources said to “avoid September if all possible” as it is the rainiest month of the year. Against all odds, we sustained only 10 minutes of “mist” which was really quite lovely. Other days I was perfectly comfortable, and even hot the last few days lol. 

Rainy days last year meant more time to paint, more time for long restaurant lunches and dinners...but here we found ourselves in an entirely different adventure. We visited so many museums and castles, gorgeous vistas and off-the-beaten paths...it is honestly a bit of a blur. So much to enjoy and with which to make connections...here is a small sampling of the art that moved me in Glasgow and Edinburgh...
Can we talk about the use of color & contrast in this first portrait by JD Fergusson?! The thick color and strong strokes?! In the same exhibit were paintings by Leslie Hunter that I also loved:
  
  
  
There were so many still life paintings to love:
This one by Jan van Huysum had some hidden treasures
  
  
And plenty of stunning florals in vases...here is my favorite and the only surviving floral by JBS Chardin:
  
There were too many fantastic portraits to mention, but this one of sisters Charlotte and Louisa Stuart caught my eye as well as their stories...they were both very accomplished artists. More than 300 of Louisa's paintings are in the collection and Museum of Queen Victoria and Albert. Her sister Charlotte was considered a very talented painter herself. In fact, painter G.F.Watts said that she "was born an artist greater than any England had produced, the circumstances of her life alonge preventing her from working on the the full achievement"...He was disappointed she had not finished an ambitious painting that would have satisfied posterity that "in 1866 there lived an artist as great as Venice ever knew."  
  
Another I enjoyed was of the Princess Charlotte of Wales...they exhibit hung her dress next to her portrait.
  
Gosh, I probably need to do another post. Here is just one more favorite...Edouard Vuillard's la chambre rose:
 

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