BARCLAY - John Maclaren Barclay RSA (1811-86)
Last updated | 06/10/2010
From Public House to Private Mansions
BIRTH & EARLY YEARS
- John was born in Perth on Thursday 27 February 1811, to David
Barclay, hotelier at the Salutation Hotel and Janet McLaren his
wife
- John was baptised plain John Barclay on 10 March
1811 but adopted his mother's surname as his own middle
name later in life
- John attended Perth Academy where he studied art under David
Junor (1773-1835) the Drawing Master
- John followed in the footsteps of his lifelong friends
David Octavius Hill RSA (1802-70) and Thomas Duncan RSA
ARA(1807-45) who also studied under Junor at Perth Academy
- John was apprenticed to a local civil engineer after leaving
school
PROFESSIONAL CAREER, HUSBAND AND FATHER
- John left Perth to study art at the Trustees Academy in
Edinburgh
- John became a successful artist, married a fellow Scot in
London, and returned for a time to Perth
- John lived most of his later life in Edinburgh where he lost
three of his four children to disease in the space of a matter of
weeks
- John's surviving daughter, Ada Mary Barclay became an
artist herself and subsequently travelled to India
- A history and figurative painter on occasion, John was best
known as a portrait painter
- John exhibited over 100 portraits with commissions
coming from all sections of society and from a broad geographical
spread that covered most of Scotland
- Elected an Academician of the Royal Scottish Academy in
1863, John served as a visiting teacher at the Academy School
for 12 years and served for 2 years up to his death as
Treasurer of the RSA
- John died in Edinburgh
CHECKLIST OF WORKS BY JOHN IN PERTH MUSEUM AND ART
GALLERY
(it is not possible to display the entire collections at
any one time. To view material not on display please
contact the Art Section to make an appointment)
OIL PAINTINGS
- Portrait of Adam Anderson (1780/3-1846) Rector of Perth
Academy, Mathematician and Engineer, Professor of Natural
Philosophy at St Andrews University, after the original by Thomas
Duncan RSA ARA (1807-45), oil on canvas
- Portrait of Hugh Barclay, Sheriff Substitute for Perthshire,
oil on canvas
- Portrait of Mary Barclay (nee Rose) the artist's wife, oil on
canvas
- Portrait of James Hall Cranstoun (1821-1907), Perth artist, oil
on panel
- Portrait of Edward Strathearn Gordon (1814-79), Baron
Gordon of Drumearn, Sheriff of Perthshire, Scottish Judge and
Politician, oil on canvas
- Portrait of Robert Keay (senior) (1766-1839), Perth
Silversmith, Boxmaster of the Hammermen Incorporation, uncle
and business partner of Robert Keay (junior), oil on
canvas
- Portrait of the Hon Arthur Kinnaird (1814-87), MP for
Perthshire, oil on canvas
- Portrait of William McLeish, Town Clerk of Perth, oil on
canvas
- Portrait of Thomas Miller, Rector of Perth Academy, oil on
canvas
- Portrait of George Augustus Frederick John Murray, 6th Duke of
Atholl (1814-64), oil on canvas
- Portrait of James Murray Patton of Glenalmond (d.1853),
Sheriff Clerk of Perth, oil on canvas
- Portrait of John Pullar (1803-78), Cloth Dyeing Magnate, Lord
Provost of Perth, oil on canvas
- Portrait of Robert Ross of Oakbank (c.1765-1851), Chairman of
the Perth Banking Company, Lord Provost of Perth, oil on
canvas
- Portrait of Dr David Scott , Chief Medical Officer for Perth,
oil on canvas
- oil sketch for The Gowrie Conspiracy, oil on
board
PRINTS
- Portrait of George Augustus Frederick John Murray, 6th Duke of
Atholl (1814-64), mezzotint on paper by Edward Burton, published by
Alexander Hill (1800-66)
- Portrait of George Augustus Frederick John Murray, 6th Duke of
Atholl (1814-64), mezzotint on paper
WORKS BY JOHN IN OTHER PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
- The Royal Scottish Academy owns a couple of sketchbooks
by John, as does the National Gallery of Scotland, which
feature material linked to the state visit of Queen Victoria
and Prince Albert to Perthshire in September 1842
- Several of John's large scale portraits can be seen in
properties owned by the National Trust for Scotland
INTERSTED IN OTHER ARTISTS' WORK IN THE
COLLECTION?
Details of other local artists represented in the
collection of Perth Museum and Art Gallery can be found on the
browse bar to the left
