Letters of Joseph Farquharson R.A. (1846-1935)

The collection is composed of 3 letters to Mr. Thomson and Miss Frost, and 3 cuttings showing a portrait photograph of Farquharson, his painting On the bank of the Dee, and a painting showing sheep on a snowy track in winter.

Joseph Farquharson was born in Edinburgh on 4 May 1846. He started painting as a boy and was taught art by the Scottish landscape painter Peter Graham R.A. (1836-1921), a family friend. In 1862 or thereabouts he entered the Board of Manufacturers School in Edinburgh, and later, in 1880 he studied in Paris under Carolus Duran (1838-1917). Between 1885 and 1893 he made a number of visits to Egypt and these influenced his work which included The Egyptian and On the banks of the Nile outside Cairo. Farquharson's first Royal Academy exhibit was Day's dying glow (1873). His snow scenes were famed and he was said to have an understanding of both people and landscape. He painted snow and winter, sandy atmospheres, North African bazaars, and the Scottish Highlands. He is represented at the Tate, the National Gallery of Scotland, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and in Aberdeen, Bristol, Manchester, and elsewhere in Britain. Joseph Farquharson R. A. died at Finzean, Aberdeenshire, on 15 April 1935.

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.

The biographical/administrative history was compiled using the following material: (1) McEwan, Peter J. M. Dictionary of Scottish art and architecture. pp.199-200. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, 1994.

Compiled by Graeme D Eddie, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections Division.

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.

Check the local Indexes for details of any additions.