Museum Objects Record
Images
Metadata
Collection |
Fine Art Collection |
Culture |
Scottish |
School |
Inverclyde |
Catalogue Number |
1977.821 |
Creator |
Fleming, John (1792-1845) |
Role |
Artist |
Title |
John Fleming (1792-1845) |
Date |
c 1813 |
Object Name |
Painting, Oil |
Description |
Oil painting on canvas entitled 'John Fleming (1792-1845)' by John Fleming (1792 Glasgow - 1845 Greenock). Unsigned. The work shows a head and shoulders self-portrait of a young man facing left with his head turned towards the viewer. He is shown wearing a brown jacket with white high collared shirt and necktie. He has curled brown hair, a ruddy complexion and a slightly open mouth. This self portrait is one of two such works by Fleming in the McLean Museum collection, the other portrait shows Fleming in later life. This particular work is almost certainly the work entitled 'Portrait of an Artist' exhibited at the 1813 exhibition of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Sciences. At that time Fleming would have been around 21 years old and eager to establish himself as a portrait painter in the area. He had moved to Greenock around 1810 and the 1813 exhibition would have been a good opportunity to impress potential clients. Fleming was to prove successful in his pursuit of clients seeking portraits and in the ensuing decades he was to paint the portraits of many local merchants, captains and clergymen. As the Greenock Advertiser of 18th February 1845 put it: 'He succeeded well as a portrait painter in producing good likenesses, free from that stiffness of position which so much prevails, and which is so difficult to overcome in this branch of art.' |
Dimensions |
H-76.5 W-64 cm |
Material |
Wood/Canvas/Oil Paint |
Medium |
Oil on canvas |
Technique |
Oil painting |
Acquisition |
Gift of the The Thirty Subscribers 1893 |
People |
Fleming, John, 1792-1845, artist |
Bibiographic Ref. |
1911: Palace of History Exhibition Catalogue, Glasgow 1911. Listed as no.282 on page 355. 1928: Catalogue of Pictures in the McLean Museum published by the McLean Museum, Greenock in 1928. Listed as no.62. 2014: Recorded and illustrated in Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in Strathclyde (published by the Public Catalogue Foundation 2014) ISBN 978-1-909475-26-7 Section on paintings in the McLean Museum and Art Gallery page 68. |