Eye to Eye: Sir Henry Raeburn’s Portraits review — deserved celebration of beloved artist

As James Holloway, former director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, pointed out in his opening speech of this splendid and impeccably curated show, it is to the great shame of the National Galleries of Scotland that they have failed to mark the bicentenary of the death of one of the nation’s most accomplished painters, Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823). Fortunately, Kirkcudbright Galleries and an independent curator, the indomitable Amanda Herries, have taken up the challenge with aplomb.

Raeburn was born in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, the son of a woollen yarn manufacturer. He began work as a jeweller and, later, as a portrait miniaturist. In a career spanning 35 years, he completed more than 1,000 works, 40 of which can be seen here.

This is a coup for this tastefully renovated, state-of-the-art venue and for the artistic life of Dumfries and Galloway. Some of Raeburn’s best works are to be found here and their freshness — physically and aesthetically — rightfully asserts Raeburn’s continuing, and deserved, popularity.

Raeburn’s work was all about people and as a portraitist, he had the opportunity to come face to face with many of the county’s most influential, powerful and wealthy citizens, many of whom were the artist’s neighbours in the aspirational New Town of Enlightenment Edinburgh.

A case in point is one of the highlights here, an undated double portrait of General Francis Dundas and his wife, Eliza. It shows the couple engaged in a game of chess, with Eliza in the process of check-mating her husband. As well as warmth and humour, it represents one of Raeburn’s most prevalent techniques — a dark, almost black, backdrop that is used to foreground the sitters; here their faces and upper bodies are thrown into sharp relief. Eliza’s outstretched arm forms a metaphorical and physical bond with her partner.

Raeburn excelled in depicting women — his portrayals are intimate, but without intrusion, and he did not shy away from showing the powerful, feminine sexuality some of his sitters exuded, enhanced in later work by fashionably high waistlines, plunging necklines and tight fabric over swelling breasts.

By happenstance, a nearby venue, established in 2016 by Tina Fiske, an art historian has, like Raeburn’s family, links to Scotland’s historical wool trade — it lies adjacent to a former woollen mill and occupies former millworkers’ cottages. Claire Barclay has researched this history deeply and her work reflects the processes and technologies of this industry through a series of installations, drawings, prints and sculpture.

See these shows for an inspiring day out.

     Eye to Eye: Sir Henry Raeburn’s Portraits is at Kirkcudbright Galleries until September 29.
Claire Barclay: Rawless is at Cample Line in Thornhill from July 6 until September 8.