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, Scottish, 1825-1904
Title
Sketch for Donnybrook Fair
Date1855
MediumInk, graphite and wash on paper
Dimensions
17 x 35 cm
Signedlower left (in graphite): ENicol. [EN in monogram] / 55.
Credit LinePresented, Mr Piers Watson, 2017
Object numberNGI.2017.32
DescriptionBorn in Leith in 1825, Erskine Nicol was a Scottish artist based in Edinburgh. He first travelled to Ireland in 1846, and during that initial sojourn of four years worked as an art teacher in Dublin. He returned on numerous occasions to sketch, and in 1862 established a studio on Clonave, an island on Lake Derravaragh, County Westmeath, which served as a retreat for him for many years. Nicol's often derogatory, theatrical depictions of Irish peasants were highly popular in his own day. Between 1850 and in 1869 he exhibited over ninety Irish subjects at the Royal Scottish Academy and over twenty at the Academy in London. In 1905 the Royal Scottish Academy held a commemorative exhibition of his work.
Inscriptionunder drawing (in pen): First sketch for Donnybrook
ProvenanceBy descent through Ailsa Pratt (née Nicol, grandaughter of the Artist); presented, Mr. Piers Watson, 2017