Details

Object type

painting

Title

Stirling Station

Artist/Maker

William Kennedy artist

Culture/School

Glasgow Boys

Place Associated

Scotland, Stirling (place associated)

Date

1887-1888

Materials

oil on canvas

Dimensions

framed: 812 mm x 1082 mm x 100 mm; unframed: 540 mm x 816 mm

Description

From the mid-1880s the Glasgow Boys turned increasingly to modern urban life for subject matter. This atmospheric painting shows passengers that have just disembarked from a train on the platform of Stirling Station. In the foreground we see a fashionably dressed lady, wearing a fur and elegant red veiled hat and gloves; a kilted soldier, probably returning to the barracks at Stirling Castle; a young boy in ragged trousers and wooden clogs, carrying a basket, possibly selling something; and a small terrier quizzically surveying the scene. Various items of luggage resting on the platform, possibly waiting for a porter, balance the composition. The curve of the tracks leads the viewer’s eye into the distance, where shunting locomotives and railway wagons are silhouetted against a darkening sky with reflections caught in the metal of the rails. Set at dusk, with a muted tonality, this painting shows the influence of American artist and aesthete James McNeill Whistler, who specialised in nocturnal scenes and was something of a hero and mentor for the Glasgow Boys.

Glasgow Boy James Nairn had already exhibited a railway subject at the Royal Scottish Watercolour Society. However, this painting is rather more unusual in subject matter for Kennedy. Kennedy acquired a studio in Cambuskenneth in Stirling in 1885, staying there until 1898. He was partly drawn to this location by his future wife Lena Scott who lived at Craigmill, but also by the large garrison at Stirling Castle. Kennedy was interested in military subject matter and often painted the 3rd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders training in King’s Park. He also painted soldiers in their camp, going about their everyday activities. His fascination earned him the nickname ‘The Colonel’.

Stirling Station was exhibited at the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts in 1888. The reviewer for Quiz described it as ‘one of the most remarkable pictures in the Exhibition’, displaying exceptional skill in the treatment of linear and aerial perspective and colour, particularly commenting on ‘The unity of effect obtained through the delicate harmonising of each colour in relation to the general colour scheme’.

The painting is of great interest to historians in showing Stirling Station and its rolling stock in 1887. The railway came to Stirling in 1848 and by the 1880s it was a vital link in central Scotland, connecting east to west and lowland to Highland. The station and railway was operated by the Caledonian Railway Company, one of the five large Scottish companies of the late nineteenth century. Its line stretched from Carlisle to Aberdeen and was known for the dark blue livery of its steam locomotives, one seen to the left in the painting. The station building is brightly lit and the station sign, in bright blue, is on the right. In the distance can be seen the signals on top of lattice poles. Lit by oil lamp, these were all operated manually and indicated to the locomotive driver if the line ahead was clear or when they could depart.

Hamilton Bequest Trustee Rona MacKie Black writes: 'This painting of Stirling Station evokes for me a way of life and train travel that is gone. Elegant Victorian women dressed up, not down, for train travel, and copious luggage including fishing rods. The dog, of course, and possibly a cat somewhere in a wicker travelling basket. My mother, who was one of a family of seven children, plus grandparents and elderly aunts in Edinburgh, would tell fascinating stories of the entire household of 14+ decamping from Barnton to Glenferness every summer for six weeks. A whole carriage was booked for family, nanny, sporting equipment and animals including the hens. This is a painting for which I have great affection.'

Credit Line/Donor

Purchased with the assistance of The Heritage Lottery Fund, The Art Fund, the Trustees of the Hamilton Bequest and the Friends of Glasgow Museums, 2008

ID Number

3664

Location

Kelvingrove Scottish Art