Cadzow Forest

Signed and dated 1851, inscribed Cadzow Forest

Canvas: 40 x 60 ¼ in / 101.6 x 153 cm

Exhibited:

Richard Green Gallery, London, A Fine Collection of Nineteenth Century Paintings, 2001

Literature:

P J M McEwan, Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture, p 83

Around 1850, Samuel Bough moved to 2 Muir Street, Hamilton, in order to be near to Cadzow Forest. In 1851 he painted the forest in oil winning the West of Scotland Fine Art Association’s gold medal for the best Scottish landscape.

The venerable Cadzow oak trees are sometimes claimed to be part of the Caledonian Forest which once covered the entire country. Some people believe they may have been planted by King David who died in 1153 AD. Ring measurement techniques suggest they date from 1444.

Samuel Bough was a Scottish landscape painter. His inspiration came largely from the scenery of Scotland and the North of England. His early work is characterised by an incredibly detailed rendering; after 1860, he adopted a much broader manner. He often worked in watercolour, but was principally an oil painter.

He was born in Carlisle, the son of a shoemaker, he began his artistic life as a theatre scene painter in Glasgow and Manchester. James Macnee encouraged the young man to take up easel painting. He often worked with Alexander Fraser in the Cadzow Forest. He resided in Glasgow between 1848 and 1855, but subsequently moved to Edinburgh. Samuel Bough was elected an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy and was made a member in 1875. He exhibited fifteen works at the Royal Academy between 1856 and 1876.

Caw praised Samuel Bough's "feeling for air and atmosphere and movement, and for broad and scenic effects." (Sir J L Caw, Scottish Painting 1620-1908, 1908)