DOI Heft:
Nr. 201 (November, 1913)
DOI Artikel:Walker, A. Stodart: The paintings of James Whitelaw Hamilton, A.R.S.A., R.S.W.
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43454#0044
James Whitelaw Hamilton, A.R.S.AR.S.W.
by the Scottish Modern Arts Association, and is
hung in the galleries in Princes Street, Edinburgh.
Recently in Glasgow Mr. Hamilton gave a “ one-
man ” show which demonstrated the versatility of
his talent, and secured not only a succ'es d'estime
but also a succespopulaire.
Mr. Whitelaw Hamilton was elected a Member
of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Water-
Colour in 1895, and an Associate of the Royal
Scottish Academy in 1911. He was one of the
original members of the International Society of
Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, and is a correspond-
ing member of the “ Secession ” in Munich.
The painter’s work has been almost entirely
confined to landscapes. He has used both oil and
water-colour as his media, and it is difficult to say
in which he has been most successful. No one
could mistake Mr. Hamilton’s work for anything
but Scottish. It is even more typical of the new
expression of Scottish landscape painting than
that of the man who influenced him most,
Mr. E. A. Walton. In more ways than one his
works seems the link between the art of Milne
Donald and Alexander Fraser and the later expres-
sion of Scottish landscape as found in Mr. Roche
and Mr. James Paterson. We have the “ solidity”
of Fraser along with the subtle impressionism of
Walton. The French influences are not wanting.
Occasionally we are reminded of a Daubigny or a
Harpignies, a Cazin and a Troyon. But the
resemblance is but a superficial one, and no one
can say of Mr. Hamilton, whatever his limitations,
that he is a mere echo of other painters.
Like all his confreres, Mr. Hamilton has been
much concerned with tone and plein-air, more
so than with precise, scientific realism. Added
to this has been the never-failing search for
decorative effect and that element of romance so
characteristic of Scottish landscape painting.
Lacking somewhat of the vigour of such a master
as Cecil Lawson, more evident than the searching
studies of Mr. Walton, less experimental than the
daring essays of Mr. James Paterson and free
from the ultra-reticent dignity that gives such dis-
tinction to the work of Mr. D. Y. Cameron, Mr.
Hamilton can nevertheless, in his simple tones, his
confident statement of the emotion within him and
the scholarly appreciation of the necessities and
“Kirkcudbright” (In the possession of Alexr. Reid, Esq., Glasgow) by j. whitelaw Hamilton
1 2
by the Scottish Modern Arts Association, and is
hung in the galleries in Princes Street, Edinburgh.
Recently in Glasgow Mr. Hamilton gave a “ one-
man ” show which demonstrated the versatility of
his talent, and secured not only a succ'es d'estime
but also a succespopulaire.
Mr. Whitelaw Hamilton was elected a Member
of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Water-
Colour in 1895, and an Associate of the Royal
Scottish Academy in 1911. He was one of the
original members of the International Society of
Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, and is a correspond-
ing member of the “ Secession ” in Munich.
The painter’s work has been almost entirely
confined to landscapes. He has used both oil and
water-colour as his media, and it is difficult to say
in which he has been most successful. No one
could mistake Mr. Hamilton’s work for anything
but Scottish. It is even more typical of the new
expression of Scottish landscape painting than
that of the man who influenced him most,
Mr. E. A. Walton. In more ways than one his
works seems the link between the art of Milne
Donald and Alexander Fraser and the later expres-
sion of Scottish landscape as found in Mr. Roche
and Mr. James Paterson. We have the “ solidity”
of Fraser along with the subtle impressionism of
Walton. The French influences are not wanting.
Occasionally we are reminded of a Daubigny or a
Harpignies, a Cazin and a Troyon. But the
resemblance is but a superficial one, and no one
can say of Mr. Hamilton, whatever his limitations,
that he is a mere echo of other painters.
Like all his confreres, Mr. Hamilton has been
much concerned with tone and plein-air, more
so than with precise, scientific realism. Added
to this has been the never-failing search for
decorative effect and that element of romance so
characteristic of Scottish landscape painting.
Lacking somewhat of the vigour of such a master
as Cecil Lawson, more evident than the searching
studies of Mr. Walton, less experimental than the
daring essays of Mr. James Paterson and free
from the ultra-reticent dignity that gives such dis-
tinction to the work of Mr. D. Y. Cameron, Mr.
Hamilton can nevertheless, in his simple tones, his
confident statement of the emotion within him and
the scholarly appreciation of the necessities and
“Kirkcudbright” (In the possession of Alexr. Reid, Esq., Glasgow) by j. whitelaw Hamilton
1 2