Raeburn Sir Henry Paintings

Raeburn Sir Henry Biography

Raeburn Sir Henry is a Scottish portrait painter. In spite of his status, his career is surprisingly little documented. Raeburn Sir Henry was born in 1756, in Edinburgh, was orphaned, educated at Heriot’s Hospital in Edinburgh, and brought up under the general supervision of his elder brother William. In 1772, Raeburn Sir Henry was apprenticed to James Gilliland, an Edinburgh goldsmith; while he was still an apprentice he began to paint miniatures, first in watercolors, then in oils.

Raeburn Sir Henry was knighted by George IV in 1822, and appointed king’s limner for Scotland a few days before his death. His style was to some extent founded on that of Reynolds, but his bold brushwork and brave use of contrasting colors make Raeburn Sir Henry paintings original. Among his sitters were the writer Sir Walter Scott, philosopher Hume, songwriter and printer Boswell, critic and essayist John Wilson and other outstanding men of Scotland.

He painted over 700 Raeburn Sir Henry portraits, including four of Sir Walter Scott in 1808, 1809, and 1823 (twice). These are discussed on separate pages. Amongst his other most celebrated likenesses are those of Mrs James Campbell, Sir John Sinclair, Lord Newton, and Alexander Adam.

The artist was born in the Stockbridge area of Edinburgh, the son of businessman. Raeburn Sir Henry was orphaned as a boy and went on to be educated at Heriot's Hospital, now George Heriot's School. At the age of 15 Raeburn Sir Henry left school to begin an apprenticeship with an Edinburgh goldsmith. Here he demonstrated considerable skill painting decoration on ivory insets in jewellery. From these it was only a short step to the production of portrait miniatures: and he soon moved on to full size oil paintings, something in which Raeburn Sir Henry was entirely self-taught. His employer introduced Raeburn to David Martin, who at the time was Edinburgh's leading portrait painter. Martin encouraged Raeburn Sir Henry painting, helping him by lending Raeburn Sir Henry portraits to copy.

The Raeburns returned to Edinburgh in the summer of 1786 and Henry returned to his portrait paintings, now able to add his newly acquired technical competence to his natural flair and enthusiasm. After his one foray abroad, Raeburn Sir Henry spent most of the rest of his life in Edinburgh, only occasionally visiting London, in marked contrast to many of his Scottish contemporaries who felt they had to move south to develop successful careers.

Raeburn also benefitted from the large number of wealthy patrons then living in Edinburgh. Sir Walter Scott, Hugh Blair, Henry Mackenzie, Woodhouselee, Robertson, John Home, Robert Fergusson, and Dugald Stewart were all amongst his clients. Particularly noteworthy Raeburn Sir Henry portraits included those of Rev Sir Henry Moncrieff Wellwood; Dr Wardrop of Torbane Hill; two full-lengths of Adam Rolland of Gask; William Macdonald of St Martin's; and the Raeburn Sir Henry paintings of Lord Newton and Dr Alexander Adam now on show in the National Gallery of Scotland. It has sometimes been suggested that the painter was less good with female subjects, but a number of Raeburn Sir Henry portraits of women, including a full length portrait of his wife, are generally regarded as of very high quality.

Despite being less well known than the artist should have been outside Scotland during his own lifetime, Raeburn Sir Henry is now generally recognised as a world class portrait painter. The Raeburn Sir Henry painting is best known today is one that was almost unknown until it was purchased by the National Gallery of Scotland in 1949. His portrait of the Rev Robert Walker skating on Duddingston Loch is usually simply known as The Skating Minister.

In 1808, Scott's publisher Archibald Constable, delighted by the unprecedented success of Scott's second narrative poem Marmion, commissioned a portrait from him. Unlike the earlier Raeburn Sir Henry portraits of Scott which were designed for a private, domestic setting, Raeburn Sir Henry portrait was very much conceived with reproduction in mind. For over a decade, it would be the most frequently engraved and widely diffused image of Scott.