Lot Essay
Boyhood is arguably one of the most arresting images of its time, certainly within the canon of Victorian pictures depicting children. Both in terms of subject and style, Faed pushes the bounds of established convention.
John Faed did not set out to be a provocative painter. His main aim was simply excellence, as he strove to perfect the draughtsmanship that had earned him commissions since his early teens. The eldest son of James Faed, he guided his more extrovert brother Thomas and younger siblings in their pursuit of what was to become the family vocation. (In 1878 five members of the Faed family exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy, including the sons of John's brother James).
Boyhood was painted early in John's career, one of three pictures that he submitted to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1850. All three sold immediately, Boyhood to the Association for the Promotion of Fine Arts for forty pounds. It is interesting to note that Fun and Curiosity also depicted children, but it was this representation of dispute that merited the least particular, and accordingly most allusive, title.
The painting is unusual even within the context of Faed's oeuvre, as he later graduated towards historical and literary subjects of a crowded aspect and sentimental hue. Its power stems, in part, from a confident simplicity. The three figures loom large in the landscape, as if they have reached some epochal moment, or come to the end of a long-trodden road. The Galloway hills stretch behind, bald but unerringly beautiful in the clear light; a smoking chimney just discernable in the distance. (We look towards Gatehouse-of-Fleet, and beyond to the Firth of Forth). The viewer is positioned slightly below, and so is struck by the scale of the sky, which shows storm clouds to the west.
Faed thereby bestows an epic complexion upon his domestic subject by virtue of his chosen surround. Indeed, Boyhood's sophistication derives from a reconciliation of opposites. Each figure is treated with a realism so enhanced, it appears styled. Similarly, the picture combines sincerity with wry self-knowledge.
The children themselves are by nature and type opposed. Faed employs archetypes: the tough pugilist versus the weaker, blond, infant, with his fitted clothes and ambitiously large shoes. By exaggerating archetypal attributes, Faed acknowledges their existence in contemporary culture. As Duncan Macmillan points out in his introductory essay, the contrast between 'rustic vigour' and 'urban effeteness' is an old theme in Scottish art and poetry. Heathcliff and Edgar Linton personify this dichotomy in Emily Bronté's Wuthering Heights (1847). The schoolmaster also evokes established ideas. Clad in dark clothes, stern as Dickens' Gradgrind, his expression is an ambiguous mixture of horror, anger and concern.
Faed was known for his exacting technique. He acknowledged it himself, with typical good humour, appending a letter in which he corrected his engraver's work: '..Trusting you will pardon my being so particular'. All his paintings have the same degree of realised form, where solids are edged in clear light, and their scale and shape are expertly well-judged. Faed had begun his career as a miniaturist, finding this a profitable accomplishment amongst native Scottish gentry. A set of family miniatures portraying the McGeachie children (The Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright), executed when he was just sixteen, show an unusual ability to judge physiognomy. The three girls are almost identical, and dressed the same, but Faed captures the irregularities of feature that differentiate them and spell character. His technical precision, and interest in facial expression, was nurtured during this period.
Faed was fêted in his native Scotland, and respected in the London art world. Art Journal commented in 1860: 'We know of no artist in modern times who exhibits such manipulative power - every square inch seems a work of time'.
John Faed did not set out to be a provocative painter. His main aim was simply excellence, as he strove to perfect the draughtsmanship that had earned him commissions since his early teens. The eldest son of James Faed, he guided his more extrovert brother Thomas and younger siblings in their pursuit of what was to become the family vocation. (In 1878 five members of the Faed family exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy, including the sons of John's brother James).
Boyhood was painted early in John's career, one of three pictures that he submitted to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1850. All three sold immediately, Boyhood to the Association for the Promotion of Fine Arts for forty pounds. It is interesting to note that Fun and Curiosity also depicted children, but it was this representation of dispute that merited the least particular, and accordingly most allusive, title.
The painting is unusual even within the context of Faed's oeuvre, as he later graduated towards historical and literary subjects of a crowded aspect and sentimental hue. Its power stems, in part, from a confident simplicity. The three figures loom large in the landscape, as if they have reached some epochal moment, or come to the end of a long-trodden road. The Galloway hills stretch behind, bald but unerringly beautiful in the clear light; a smoking chimney just discernable in the distance. (We look towards Gatehouse-of-Fleet, and beyond to the Firth of Forth). The viewer is positioned slightly below, and so is struck by the scale of the sky, which shows storm clouds to the west.
Faed thereby bestows an epic complexion upon his domestic subject by virtue of his chosen surround. Indeed, Boyhood's sophistication derives from a reconciliation of opposites. Each figure is treated with a realism so enhanced, it appears styled. Similarly, the picture combines sincerity with wry self-knowledge.
The children themselves are by nature and type opposed. Faed employs archetypes: the tough pugilist versus the weaker, blond, infant, with his fitted clothes and ambitiously large shoes. By exaggerating archetypal attributes, Faed acknowledges their existence in contemporary culture. As Duncan Macmillan points out in his introductory essay, the contrast between 'rustic vigour' and 'urban effeteness' is an old theme in Scottish art and poetry. Heathcliff and Edgar Linton personify this dichotomy in Emily Bronté's Wuthering Heights (1847). The schoolmaster also evokes established ideas. Clad in dark clothes, stern as Dickens' Gradgrind, his expression is an ambiguous mixture of horror, anger and concern.
Faed was known for his exacting technique. He acknowledged it himself, with typical good humour, appending a letter in which he corrected his engraver's work: '..Trusting you will pardon my being so particular'. All his paintings have the same degree of realised form, where solids are edged in clear light, and their scale and shape are expertly well-judged. Faed had begun his career as a miniaturist, finding this a profitable accomplishment amongst native Scottish gentry. A set of family miniatures portraying the McGeachie children (The Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright), executed when he was just sixteen, show an unusual ability to judge physiognomy. The three girls are almost identical, and dressed the same, but Faed captures the irregularities of feature that differentiate them and spell character. His technical precision, and interest in facial expression, was nurtured during this period.
Faed was fêted in his native Scotland, and respected in the London art world. Art Journal commented in 1860: 'We know of no artist in modern times who exhibits such manipulative power - every square inch seems a work of time'.