A History in Small Pictures

A survey of Scottish art over three centuries. Diminutive paintings by, amongst others, John Clerk of Eldin, Sir David Wilkie, Alexander Nasmyth, Sir Henry Raeburn, Sam Bough, John MacWhirter, E A Walton, Anne Redpath, William Crosbie and John Houston. Together they bring together aspects of Scottish culture, geography and identity.

Artists, over the centuries, have worked on a small scale for many reasons: portability to work outdoors – en plein air; a preliminary sketch to scale up; a finely wrought etching scratched into a copper plate; cabinet paintings that were intentionally small and made to be looked at privately; or simply working on what was to hand.