Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1976.7.151
Gallery Label:
Scott was overseeing the Government School of Design in the northern English city of Newcastle when the London-based Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood formed in 1848. The Scottish artist was, nonetheless, a close associate of the artistic group and shared their interest in capturing the details of nature with meticulous fidelity. In this view of the Ayrshire coast in southwest Scotland, the islands of Ailsa Craig and, more distantly, Arran emerge from the crystalline waters of the Firth of Clyde. Yellow irises populate the foreground alongside thistles, while Scottish Blackface sheep blaze trails like engraved lines through the landscape. A distant steamboat, a marker of modernity, follows a more ephemeral trail upon the water's surface. Scott sketched the details for this landscape during a summer trip to Ayrshire in 186o. While there, he stayed at Penkill Castle, the family seat of his student and eventual life partner, Alice Boyd. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2022