Kenneth Macleay the younger (4 July 1802 – 3 November 1878) was a Scottish
miniature painter. He was the son of
Kenneth Macleay the elder.
Biography
Macleay was born at
Oban
Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...
on 4 July 1802. He was the son of
Dr. Kenneth Macleay; his mother belonged to the Macdonald family of Keppoch, Inverness-shire. His early years were spent at Crieff. At the age of eighteen, he came to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
; and on 26 February 1822 entered the
Trustees' Academy
The Trustees' Academy was an independent art and trade school in Edinburgh, Scotland, providing tertiary education in art and design. The Academy was founded in 1760, reduced in scope in 1892 by a schism, then became defunct in 1903.
Initially ...
(minute-book of the board of trustees). He soon attained repute as a miniature-painter, and was one of the original members of the
Royal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art.
The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...
founded in 1826. At first he worked on ivory, afterwards in water-colours on paper. His bust portraits and small full-lengths are distinguished by exquisite beauty of touch and fine colouring. Among his earlier works was a small full-length of
Helen Faucit
Helena Saville Faucit, Lady Martin (11 October 1817 – 31 October 1898) was an English actress.
Early life
Born in London, she was the daughter of actors John Saville Faucit and Harriet Elizabeth Savill. Her parents separated when she was a ...
, which attracted much attention and has been lithographed. He executed for the queen a series of full-length figures illustrative of the costumes of the highland clans, including portraits of the prince consort, the Duke of Edinburgh, and several members of the royal household at Balmoral. A selection of these were lithographed, hand-coloured, and published in two volumes in 1870, under the title of 'Highlanders of Scotland,' When the progress of photography reduced the popular demand for miniatures, Macleay turned his attention to oil-painting, and produced a few genre pictures of highland subjects and many landscapes. These are very hard and minute in handling, and greatly inferior to his earlier water-colour portraits. He married a daughter of Sir A. Campbell of Aldenglass. He died in Edinburgh on 3 November 1878.
Gallery
File:Jane Baillie Welsh, Mrs Thomas Carlyle, 1801 - 1866. Wife of the historian Thomas Carlyle.jpg, Jane Carlyle
File:Portrait of John Neil Dyce.jpg, John Neil Dyce
File:Portraits of Elizabeth Hamilton Bowie.jpg, Elizabeth Hamilton Bowie
File:Kenneth Macleay - Portrait of John Francis Miller Erskine, Earl of Mar and Earl of Kellie - 2013.34 - Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg, John Francis Miller Erskine
File:Donald Munro, Archibald MacDougall and Lachlan MacLean by Kenneth MacLeay.jpg, Donald Munro, Archibald MacDougall and Lachlan MacLean
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Macleay, Kenneth
19th-century Scottish painters
People from Oban
British portrait miniaturists
1802 births
1878 deaths
Alumni of the Trustees' Academy
Alumni of the Royal Scottish Academy