Thomas Faed RSA (1826–1900) was a Scottish painter who is said[by whom?] to have done for Scottish art what Robert Burns did for Scottish song.[1]

Thomas Faed (1887)
by John Pettie
Burns and Highland Mary by Thomas Faed c. 1850
Faults on Both Sides (1861)
Tate Gallery.

Life

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Faed was born on 8 June 1826, at Barlay Mill[2] in Gatehouse of Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire, and was the brother of the artists James Faed, John Faed and Susan Faed.[3]

He received his art education in the school of design, Edinburgh and was elected an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1849. He went to London three years later, was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1861, and academician in 1864, and retired in 1893. He had much success as a painter of domestic genre, and had considerable executive capacity.[4]

In 1850 he was living at 16 Comely Bank in north Edinburgh with his brother James Faed, an engraver.[5] During his time in Edinburgh he was a member of the Edinburgh Smashers Club alongside William Fettes Douglas.[6]

Three of his pictures, The Silken Gown, Faults on Both Sides, and The Highland Mother are in the Tate Gallery and a further two, Highland Mary and The Reaper hang in the Aberdeen Art Gallery. The Last of the Clan, completed in 1865 and arguably his best known work, is in the Kelvingrove Gallery in Glasgow.[7] He produced several versions of this work, including a smaller version now in The Fleming Collection.[8] Two other celebrated pictures are The Motherless Bairn and Scott and His Literary Friends at Abbotsford.[9]

He died in London on 17 August 1900.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "The Mitherless Bairn". Halifax, West Yorkshire, England: Calderdale Council. Archived from the original on 25 November 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  2. ^ "Susan Bell Faed | Kirkcudbright Galleries | Dumfries and Galloway | Artists | Gallery".
  3. ^ McKay, William D. (1906). "the Faed brothers". The Scottish School of Painting. London: Duckworth and Co. pp. 443–449.
  4. ^   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Faed, Thomas". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 123.
  5. ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1850
  6. ^ "NPG 4840; Thomas Faed - Portrait Extended - National Portrait Gallery".
  7. ^ "Thomas Faed: 1826 - 1900" Scotgaz. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
  8. ^ The Fleming Collection Archived 22 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Faed, Thomas" . The New Student's Reference Work . 1914.
  10. ^ "Thomas Faed | Artist | Royal Academy of Arts". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  • McKerrow, Mary (1982). The Faeds : a biography. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 978-0-903937-31-3. OCLC 8835330. This book provides much information on Thomas Faed and the other Faed artists, and contains many photographs of the artist's paintings. It is out of print but may be found in libraries.
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