James M. Burnet

James M. Burnet (1788–1816) was a Scottish painter of rural scenes, based in the London area for most of his career.

Life He was born in Musselburgh in 1788, the fourth son of George Burnet, general surveyor of excise in Scotland, and his wife Anne Cruikshank (sister of anatomist William Cruikshank, and from an artistically inclined family). While apprenticed to a wood carver named Liddel

Style and influences James M. Burnet, Caricature of Sawrey Gilpin (date unknown) Tate Gallery James M. Burnet, Old Chelsea Bridge (1799) Aberdeen Art Gallery James M. Burnet, Landscape, Boy with Farm Horses (1813) Egremont Collection, Petworth House

Impressed by the work of David Wilkie, whose The Blind Fiddler John Burnet was then engraving, and the Dutch paintings he saw in London, especially those of Aelbert Cuyp and Paulus Potter, James was inspired towards a naturalistic approach in his paintings. – and based his landscapes on sketches made in the area around Fulham and Battersea, which was then still largely rural.

Two paintings, once belonging to noted collector John Sheepshanks are in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Burnet is also represented at the Tate, Aberdeen Art Gallery, and numerous other British museums.