Waller Hugh Paton


1828 - 1895

Painter. Born into a family of damask weavers in Dunfermline (Fife), Paton was the less famous younger brother of Sir Joseph Noel Paton (1821 - 1901). He began his career as a damask designer. Largely self-taught as an artist, he had gained a reputation as a fine painter of landscapes by the time he moved to Edinburgh in the late 1850s. Here he worked briefly with John Adam Houston (1812-84). Paton was one of the few Scots who worked in the highly finished manner of the English Pre-Raphaelites, heavily influenced by John Ruskin (1819 - 1900). Paton painted in oil and watercolour, and was noted for his landscapes of Scotland, including mountains, lochs and trees, with the rocks and plants depicted in meticulous detail. He became a member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1865 and the Society of Watercolour Painters in 1878. He died at his home at 14 George Square in Edinburgh and lies buried in Grange Cemetery. The National Gallery of Scotland holds two of his pictures; namely Springtime, Strath Earn (1861) and Entrance to the Cuiraing, Skye (1873). The National Trust for Scotland acquired his painting the Outlet of Loch Achray (1859) with the contents of Fyvie Castle in 1984, while the Royal Scottish Academy holds Lamlash Bay, Isle of Arran (1865).


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