December 1841: Archibald McLellan, Joseph Swan, and Modern Art, in Glasgow “the second city of / in the empire”

Archibald McLellan’s support for and interest in modern art is evident in December 1841. There was a general meeting of the subscribers to the Glasgow and West of Scotland Association for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, a picture lottery, which was held in the Assembly Rooms on Ingram Street. Newspaper reports, such as one on page four of The Glasgow Herald, on Monday the third of January,1842, record the event. Joseph Swan, the secretary, and Archibald, who was a committee member, each referred to Glasgow as “the second city of the empire” and “the second city in the empire”.

 

 

George Fairfull-Smith, September 2026.

(Copyright: George Fairfull-Smith, Glasgow, Third of September, 2026.)