Monarch of the Glen painting moved to new spot in gallery ahead of opening
The new galleries at the National in Edinburgh open on September 30.
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Your support makes all the difference.Celebrated painting The Monarch of the Glen has been moved into its new position ahead of the opening of the Scottish galleries at the National in Edinburgh.
The picture by Sir Edwin Landseer is one of more than 130 artworks taking up residence in the new spaces, which open on September 30.
Works by pioneering Scottish artists such as William McTaggart, Anne Redpath, Phoebe Anna Traquair, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Boys will be among those on display.
The Monarch of the Glen was originally intended as part of a series of three works to be displayed in the House of Lords, but the scheme was never realised and the painting was sold to a private collector soon after its completion.
From the moment it was first exhibited in 1851 at the Royal Academy in London it proved immensely popular.
In 1916 it was purchased by Sir Thomas Dewar and from that point on it was regularly used as a marketing image, first by Pears Soap, then by John Dewar & Sons Distillery and Glenfiddich, and later by Nestle and Baxters soup.
Sir John Leighton, director-general of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “Landseer’s The Monarch of the Glen is one of the most potent and familiar images associated with Scotland.
“The proud stag is recognisable across the world from his long career in marketing, adorning just about every kind of product imaginable, from soap and whisky to countless shortbread tins.
“Today, it remains a compelling and contested image, viewed by some as the ultimate evocation of the romance of the Highlands, by others as a gloss on the harsh realities of life in the Scottish countryside in the 19th century.
“Love it or hate it, no-one can deny that it is an extraordinary, powerful painting. You are warmly invited to see this incredible work of art in its new setting at the National.”
Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-73) first visited Scotland in 1824 and was overwhelmed and inspired by the experience of the landscape and its people.
He returned on sketching expeditions annually in late summer and the autumn and his resulting paintings ranged from intimate and remarkably fresh landscape studies, painted on the spot, to his most famous large-scale picture, The Monarch of the Glen.