Art Appreciation Lecture Series 2015 Meet the Masters: Highlights from the Scottish National Gallery

“The Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania” Sir Joseph Noel Paton

Craig Judd

2/3 September 2015

Born off Wooer’s alley in to damask workers to knighthood and works acquired by Queen Victoria the career of Joseph Noel Paton (1821-1901) is literally one of rags to riches. Studying briefly in London 1843, he became close friends with and was invited to be a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood an offer he rejected. Nevertheless much of his is infused with the same spirit of self conscious moralising conservatism. “The Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania”(1847) and its companion piece “The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania” (1846) easily captured critical and public imagination, won prizes and provided the inital entré for the artist into the Royal Scottish Academy.Paton was an avid antiquary and folklorist swept up in the tartan led fantasies of the Prince Albert Queen Victoria/ Balmoral Scottish Revival consequently many of his works are skilled programmatic illustrations derived from literature. Also a skilled watercolourist Paton became the Queens Limner for Scotland in 1865. “The Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania”(1847) represents the high water mark of a billabong of Victorian taste. A surprisingly wild and sensual mass of swirling flesh it depicts the happy conclusion of ’s “A Midsummers Nights Dream”.This lecture will introduce the genre of Fairy Painting as well as discuss the often overlooked career and broader cultural contexts of Sir Joseph Noel Paton.

Slide list: 1. Joseph Noel Paton, The Bluidie Tryst (1855) Oil on Canvas (73 × 65 cm) Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum, Scotland 2. Joseph Noel Paton, Home (ca. 1855–56) Oil on Panel Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia USA 3. Joseph Noel Paton, In Memoriam (1858) Oil on panel 123 × 96.5 cm Queens Collection 4. Joseph Noel Paton, The Man with the Muck-Rake (1875–9), Ferens Art Gallery, Hull City Museums 5. Richard Dadd, Puck (1841) Oil on canvas 61x61cm Harris Museum and art gallery UK 6. John Anster Fitzgerald The Fairy’s Lake (1865) oil on canvas 152x203mm Tate Gallery London

References: Jeremy Maas, Jane Martineau etal “Victorian Fairy Painting” Royal Academy 1997 Laurence Tailarach-Vielmas “Fairy tales ,Natural History and Victorian Culture” Palgrave Connect 2014 Jeremy Paxman “ The Victorians” Random House 2010

For access to all past lecture notes visit: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/members/current-members/member-events/meet-the-masters/

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For access to all past lecture notes visit: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/members/current-members/member-events/meet-the-masters/ Meet the masters: highlights from the Scottish National Gallery. The annual art appreciation lecture series at the Art Gallery of NSW is always one of our most popular offerings. This year there’s a difference: the European masterpieces discussed in the lectures will not be thousands of kilometres away but, come October 2015, will be here in the Gallery as part of a major exhibition from the Scottish National Gallery, presenting some of the greatest old master paintings and drawings from one of the world’s richest collections. Image: Sir Henry Raeburn Reverend Robert Walker skating on Duddingston Loch c1795 (detail), oil on canvas, 76.2 × 63.5 cm, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh © Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland. Captions. Summary[edit]. Joseph Noel Paton: The Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania. Artist. Joseph Noel Paton (1821–1901). "label QS:Len,"The Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania. "Object type. painting. Description. English: The Reconciliation of Titania and Oberon. Date. 1847. Scottish National Gallery. Parent institution. National Galleries of Scotland. Location. Edinburgh. The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania is an oil on canvas painting by the Scottish artist Sir Joseph Noel Paton. Painted in 1849, it depicts the scene from William Shakespeare's comedy play A Midsummer Night's Dream, when the fairy queen Titania and fairy king Oberon quarrel; Oberon was considered the King of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. When exhibited in Edinburgh during 1850, it was declared as the "painting of the season". It was acquired by the National Gallery of Scotland in... Joseph Noel Paton. 1821-1901. painter, sculptor, illustrator and collector. The Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania. 76.2 x 122.6 cms | 30 x 48 1/4 ins Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Scotland. Edinburgh | United Kingdom. ARC. Leading the revival of realism. Latest News. Infestation - The Start Dunkel Show. on 10 June, 2021. The Møhlmann Collection: selected works. on 10 June, 2021. Selected ARC Exhibition Works included in Lunar Codex. Contact Us. Art Renewal Center 100 Markley Street Port Reading, NJ 07064. [email protected]. (+1) 732-636-2060 ext 619. Discover artworks, explore venues and meet artists. Art UK is the online home for every public collection in the UK. Featuring over 275,000 artworks by over 50,000 artists. Joseph Noel Paton (1821–1901). National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish National Gallery. Back to image. Photo credit: National Galleries of Scotland. Send information to Art Detective. How you can use this image. Oberon and Titania stand reunited and are about to resolve the magically induced confusion between the two human lovers shown sleeping apart. Paton. National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish National Gallery. Read more on National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish National Gallery. Date. 1847.