James Guthrie: To Pastures New, 1883

James Guthrie  (1859-1930) was a prominent Scottish painter and key figure in the Glasgow Boys movement, known for his Scottish Realism and portraiture. Initially studying law, he turned to art, developing a style influenced by French painters through rustic, plein-air scenes, later becoming a renowned portraitist and President of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1902.

To Pastures New is today considered to be one of the key pictures of the Glasgow Boys, the group of young painters who, in the 1880s, were deeply influenced by French Realism, and by Millet and Bastien-Lepage in particular. The setting for this painting is Crowland, in the flat fenlands of Lincolnshire. In spite of the modest subject matter the ponderous birds and their herd-girl have, through the artist's handling of them, achieved the monumentality of a processional frieze. This impression is emphasised by the dominant horizontals, the proportions of the picture and the placing of the figures in the extreme foreground.

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HC-1537: card size 7" x 5" (178mm x 127mm)