1880s Watercolour - A H Greig? Where?

[arthurk]

I wonder if anyone can help with a couple of questions about this watercolour painting, please?



First, where is the scene? It looks to me like somewhere in Scotland, probably the west coast, but it would be nice if someone could confirm that and/or narrow it down to a precise location.

Second, can anyone tell me anything about the artist? There's a signature (cropped from this image) which has unfortunately been cut short during framing, so what remains is "A H Grei..." which I think must be "A H Greig". There's part of a date as well - "188...".

I haven't been able to discover anything about an artist named A H Greig, but does anyone recognise the name, and can you tell me any more about him or her?

Thanks for any help,

Arthur

[Tracey]

Cant help really but have you tried contacting the Scottish National Gallery ? They would be a good place to start. When i had to find out about an artist that drew my gt grandmother Aberdeen Archives helped me but it was a slightly easier situation than yours.

I have just seen that there is quite an active thread with more information added over on rootschat (if anyone is looking) so maybe you are getting closer to finding your answer now ?.

[Currie]

I couldn’t find anything in the newspapers about an artist named A. H. Greig.

On this page there a reference:
“Letter from Mr J Ruthven Brown (8 February 1932)
Enclosing letter from Miss AH Greig on the subject of dazzle painting. Also saying he has the book previously referred to”
http://cheshire.cent.gla.ac.uk/ead/sear ... 8dc246-365

Dazzle painting refers to camouflage. I think the military got most of their ideas for that from artists. I don’t think a woman would have had much credibility in matters of military in those days unless they were known to have some ability in that regard.

More here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage

Alan

[arthurk]

Thanks for the replies. Rootschat members between them seem to be reaching the consensus that it's a picture of the Pap of Glencoe, which means it's presumably Loch Leven in the foreground. However, further opinions would be welcome.

That's an interesting find about the camouflage. As you say, it may be that someone with a bit of artistic knowledge felt they could offer an opinion on the subject.

The Scottish National Gallery might be worth a try - I hadn't thought of them. I contacted a firm of Glasgow auctioneers who said they could find no record of any work by A H Greig coming to market, but that there were thousands of amateur watercolours around so it's not very surprising.

Anyway, thanks again,
Arthur

[smiddykilry]

HI

Looks more like Stac Pollaidh Wester Ross than Glencoe to me ?

Smid

[arthurk]

An interesting thought... I don't know that area at all, but from a quick look for images online, Stac Pollaidh looks to me more of an isolated peak, and without the same amount of sea nearby. Do you have any pictures/links where it looks more like my picture?

Arthur

[arthurk]

Another thought on the location: by googling for Onich and Loch Leven and selecting Images I found a few that seemed very similar. For example, there's one at http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=349645 - just over halfway down the page with the caption "Looking back to Glencoe from Onich with the Ballchulish Bridge across Loch Leven".

Arthur

[smiddykilry]

HI
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/a ... cpollaidh/

smid

[arthurk]

Thanks for the link re Stac Pollaidh. I still think, though, that Loch Leven and the Pap of Glencoe is a better match, particularly with the view that I mentioned in my previous post.

Arthur

[mac]

Just a thought. Would it be worth trying to find out if it was A H Greirson?
mac