"Scotland is like a wet pebble, with the colours brought out by the rain." -- Millais
Millais spent a lot of time in Scotland, in the Highlands of Perthshire, between 1870 and 1892. He divided his time between painting, fishing, and hunting, taking a break from the demands of London society and portrait paintings. Some 21 large landscape paintings have survived, dominated the autumnal colors and scenes. Few have any human presence in them, or any element that would make them a history painting. Rather, they're teeming with the beauty and abundance of nature.
Millais's landscape paintings were grouped together in the last room of the exhibition and had a strong impact after all the society portraits. You can't see it in this reproduction, but the frost in the foreground is painted in a very loose style and up close is quite abstract and rough. The sunlight in the background glows, and provides a strong sense of distance, of looking out across and into the landscape (something most of Millais's landscapes do).
Millais spent a lot of time in Scotland, in the Highlands of Perthshire, between 1870 and 1892. He divided his time between painting, fishing, and hunting, taking a break from the demands of London society and portrait paintings. Some 21 large landscape paintings have survived, dominated the autumnal colors and scenes. Few have any human presence in them, or any element that would make them a history painting. Rather, they're teeming with the beauty and abundance of nature.
Millais's landscape paintings were grouped together in the last room of the exhibition and had a strong impact after all the society portraits. You can't see it in this reproduction, but the frost in the foreground is painted in a very loose style and up close is quite abstract and rough. The sunlight in the background glows, and provides a strong sense of distance, of looking out across and into the landscape (something most of Millais's landscapes do).
