John Pettie

John Pettie RA (17 March 1839 – 21 February 1893) was a Scottish painter. He was born in Edinburgh, the son of Alexander and Alison Pettie. In 1852 the family moved to East Linton, Haddingtonshire, and a portrait by the lad of the village carrier and his donkey overcame his father's objections to art as a career for his son.

When sixteen he entered the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh, working under Robert Scott Lauder with William Quiller Orchardson, J. MacWhirter, W. M. Taggart, Peter Graham, Tom Graham and George Paul Chalmers. His first exhibits at the Royal Scottish Academy were "A Scene from the Fortunes of Nigel" one of the many subjects for which he sought inspiration in the novels of Sir Walter Scott and two portraits in 1858, followed in 1859 by "The Prison". To the Royal Academy in 1860 he sent "The Armourers"; and the success of this work and "What d'ye Lack, Madam?" in the following year, encouraged him to settle in London (1862), where he joined Orchardson.

In 1866 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, and in 1874 received full academical honors in succession to Sir Edwin Landseer. His diploma picture was "Jacobites, 1745". Pettie was a hard and rapid worker, and, in his best days, a colorist of a high order and a brilliant executant. In his early days he produced a certain amount of book illustration. His connection with Good Words began in 1861, and was continued until 1864.

With J. MacWhirter he illustrated "The Postman's Bag" (Strahan, 1862), and "Wordsworth's Poetry for the Young" (Strahan, 1863). His principal paintings, in addition to those already mentioned, are "Cromwell's Saints" (1862); "The Trio" (1863); "George Fox refusing to take the Oath" (1864); "A Drumhead Courtmartial" (1865); "The Arrest for Witchcraft" (1866); "Treason" (1867); "Tussle with a Highland Smuggler" (1868); "The Sally" (1870); "Terms to the Besieged" (1872); "The Flag of Truce" (1873); "Ho! Ho! Old Null and A State Secret" (1874); "A Sword and Dagger Fight" (1877); "The Death Warrant" (1879); "Monmouth and James II"(1882); "The Vigil" (1884); "Challenged" (1883); "The Chieftain's Candlesticks" (1886); "Two Strings to Her Bow" (1887); "The Traitor and Sir Charles Wyndham as David Garrick" (1888); and "The Ultimatum and Bonnie Prince Charlie" (1892).

The young composer Hamish MacCunn was a model for several of Pettie's paintings, and in 1888 MacCunn married Pettie's daughter, Alison. Pettie, an enthusiastic amateur musician, helped MacCunn's career by organising concerts at his own studio.

Pettie died at Hastings. In 1894 a selection of his work was included in the Winter Exhibition of the Royal Academy. His self-portrait is in the Tate Gallery.

The book "John Pettie, R.A." (London, 1908), by his nephew Martin Hardie, gives the story of his life, a catalogue of his pictures, and fifty reproductions in color.

References

*1911