December 1878: Sir Noel Paton’s Pictures, at Kay and Reid, St Vincent Street

An article on page three of North British Daily Mail, on Saturday the 14th of December, 1878, reads:

 

“SIR NOEL PATON’S PICTURES.

 

Sir Noel Paton’s pictures are so well known in

Glasgow that any criticism thereof is almost

superfluous. Marvellous as the finish of his

pictures always is, the hyper-allegorical-symbolical

sentiment which is incorporated with so many of his

sacred pictures occasionally fails to recommend itself

to the general public, as being too much in a groove.

Of this type, possibly, some will consider the painting

of ‘Christ the Great Shepherd,’ now on view at the Fine

Art Gallery of Messrs Kay & Reid in St Vincent Street.

As the picture has already been viewed by many

connoisseurs elsewhere, eliciting very diverse opinions,

we need say little more than that, while exhibiting all the

imaginative allegory and also artistic finish of the painter,

the similitude aimed at by him is almost too far-fetched for

those who prefer to regard the Saviour as he was in real life

rather than in parabolic ideal. It is, in point of fact—apart

from sentiment—too much in ‘I am the door’ style. Much

grander is the large picture exhibited in the same room of

Christ in the ‘Via Dolorosa,’ which, whatever may be said of

Gustave Dore’s celebrated treatment of the same episode of

Gospel history, is in its general conception, treatment, and

exquisite artistic finish such that none can look upon without

admiration. Evangelicals may possibly object to the affectation

of importing into a painting, which represents the date of 33

A.D., the unartistic ‘dishes’ and ‘nimbuses’ of the mediaeval

Catholic school. But these items are lost in the tender grace and

solemnity which sheds a mellow light over the whole scene, as

Christ comes forth, bending under the weight of the cross,

amidst the crowd of partly reverential, half cynical spectators

which waited upon the verdict of the Roman Procurater. The

perpetrators of ‘nocturnes’ and ‘suggestions’ would do well to

take a lesson from Sir Noel, if they would understand what

artistic finish really is. Hardly anything that a Scottish artist has

painted rises to the grandeur of this magniticent effort of his

genius.”

 

 

 

The British Newspaper Archive.

 

 

 

George Fairfull-Smith, September 2024.