No Use Crying over...

A wonderful rustic subject by the Scottish artist Hector Chalmers (1849–1943). Chalmers studied at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh under William McTaggart (1835–1910) and also at the RSA Schools in Glasgow. Working in oils and watercolour, he lived in Edinburgh (at Hawthorn Villa off Ferry Road) and exhibited widely, including 176 works at the Royal Scottish Academy.

Chalmers painted rural subjects, both landscapes and genre scenes, often including children. His style resembles that of the Glasgow Boys, who brought a fresh modernity to contemporary rural subjects, painted outdoors and with an interest in colour and surface. The Glasgow Boys admired the naturalistic scenes of everyday life by their counterparts in Europe, particularly the work of the Barbizon painters in France, and the Dutch Hague School. In particular they felt an affinity with the French realist painter Jules Bastien-Lepage, who also depicted child peasant subjects and whose work provided a bridge between naturalism and impressionistic style. The present painting shares the earthy tones and loose handling of paint of the work of these contemporaries.

Stock number JY-976