John Pettie

John Pettie (17 March 1839 – 21 February 1893) was a Scottish painter from Edinburgh who spent most of his career in London. He became an associate member of the Royal Academy in 1866 and a full academician in 1874.

As an enthusiastic amateur musician, he helped the career of the young composer Hamish MacCunn by organising concerts for him in his own studio. MacCunn, who would marry Pettie's daughter Alison in 1889, also served as a model for many of his paintings and sketches in various distinctive occasions.

Biography

John Pettie was born in Edinburgh, the son of Alexander and Alison Pettie. In 1852 the family moved to East Linton, Haddingtonshire.

When he was sixteen he entered the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh, working under Robert Scott Lauder with William Quiller Orchardson, J. MacWhirter, William McTaggart, Peter Graham (1836–1921), Tom Graham (1840–1906) and George Paul Chalmers. In 1894 a selection of his work was included in the Winter Exhibition of the Royal Academy. His self-portrait is in the Tate Gallery.

The National Portrait Gallery has four of his works in its collection.

Works With William McTaggart and others, he illustrated The Postman's Bag (Strahan, 1862), and with John MacWhirter he illustrated Wordsworth's Poetry for the Young (Strahan, 1863). His principal paintings, in addition to those already mentioned, are:

Cromwell's Saints (1862) The Trio (1863) George Fox refusing to take the Oath (1864) A Drumhead Courtmartial (1865) The Arrest for Witchcraft (1866) Treason (1867) Tussle with a Highland Smuggler (1868) The Sally (1870) Terms to the Besieged (1872) The Flag of Truce (1873) Ho! Ho! Old Null and A State Secret (1874) A Sword and Dagger Fight (1877) The Hour (1878) The Death Warrant (1879) Monmouth and James II (1882) The Vigil (1884) Challenged (1883) The Chieftain's Candlesticks (1886) Two Strings to Her Bow (1887) The Traitor and Sir Charles Wyndham as David Garrick (1888) The Ultimatum and Bonnie Prince Charlie (1892)

Literature The book John Pettie, R.A., H.R.S.A. (London, 1908), by his nephew Martin Hardie, gives the story of his life, a catalogue of his pictures, and fifty reproductions in colour.

Gallery