John Adam Houston, RSA, RI, British 1812-1884- Mountain Tarn, Sutherland;...

John Adam Houston, RSA, RI,
British 1812-1884-

Mountain Tarn, Sutherland;

oil on board, signed, inscribed and dated 'No 2. Mountain Tarn Sutherland / John A Houston. R.A. / 10 Upper Phillimore Place / Kensington / 1868' on the reverse, 39.5 x 50 cm.

Provenance:
Private Collection, UK.

Note:
Houston was born in North Wales to Scottish parents. In the late 1820s, he studied in Edinburgh under Sir William Allan (1782-1850) and was greatly influenced by Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841). Houston's style incorporates the gusto and richness of the Scottish Realist school with contrasting warm colours and deep areas of shadow. He specialised in historical and genre painting and regularly exhibited in London and Edinburgh. The present work, conceived in dark hues, depicts the majesty, as well as the isolation, of the Highland mountains, against which the majestic bird of prey resting in the foreground shrinks into lesser significance. A comparable landscape by the artist was offered at Christie's, London, 4 March 2004, lot 65.