This is one of three interesting etchings by Robert Bryden that I have for sale in my online shop. All have been newly framed as a matching set.
ONE HAS BEEN SOLD
This is one of Robert Bryden's illustrations for Burn's poem "The Holy Fair". It relates to the oil painting in the Rozelle House Galleries in Ayr.
This is a fine crisp proof impression which is signed in brown ink by the artist and dated 1895, lower right. It is also signed and dated in the plate. The etching is printed in dark brown ink on good-quality paper.
The scene shows a minister of the church preaching outdoors in Mauchline Kirkyard. The congregation is shown gathered around the gravestones. The church beadle in his tall stovepipe hat stands watching the crowd. There are thatched houses in the background - one of which has a sign that reads: John Dou Tavern / Spirits and Ales. You can see some of the congregation sitting at tales outside of the tavern and drinking large glasses of ale. The minister is not shown preaching within the confines of his Kirk - instead, he is outside sited out with the social revellers.
Burns' poem called The Holy Fair exposed a moral tug-of-war that people felt between the Kirk and the pub. This feeling of being torn between the morality of the Kirk and the sociability of the pub was something that Burns himself had experienced.
The scene depicted in Bryden's etching shows the twice-yearly open-air Holy Fair that was held to prepare the righteous for Communion in the parish. This consisted of preaching and prayer meetings lasting several days prior to Communion. But as Burns highlights in this poem, the purpose of the Holy Fair often deteriorated into a mixture of propriety and merriment. The Mauchline Fair would certainly have created a carnival atmosphere in the rural village.
Dimensions: Frame size is 36.5 x 42 cm. Image size is 21 x 27 cm.
CONDITION. The print is in excellent antique condition. It has never been framed - and I have had this framed up for sale with a new cream-coloured acid-free mount and simple black frame. It is beautifully presented and ready to hang straight onto your wall.
BIOGRAPHY: Robert Bryden was born in Coylton, Ayshire in 1865. He was educated at Ayr Academy and initially worked as an architectural assistant in the offices of Hunter and Morris.
He moved to London and studied at the Royal College of Art and at the Royal Academy Schools.
He was elected an associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1891 and RE in 1899.
He travelled in Spain and Italy and on his return to Ayshire undertook a series of etchings illustrating the poems of the poet, Robert Burns. He loved the history and culture of his native Aryshire and was keen to ensure that much of it was not forgotten. He completed several series of prints featuring special sites of interest.
He produced a number of etchings during his career – but also worked with mezzotint, drypoint and woodcut. In later life, he turned to painting – but it was sculpture that became his main focus. He worked on wood carving and creating bronze memorial panels. He has two bronze portraits of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce which can be seen in Ayr Town Hall.
His work is the prestigious museum collections including the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow; the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the National Portrait Gallery, and the British Museum.
These Burns series etchings are now hard to source and were printed in small editions of one 50 impressions. My selling price reflects the rarity quality of his outstanding Scottish etching.
An etched portrait of Bryden as a young man (by William Strang) is in the collection of the National Gallery of Scotland.
UK Postage Only. This will cost about £10