Charlotte Nasmyth (17 February 1804 – 26 July 1884) was a Scottish painter whose works were regarded at the time as "gems", and which are now included in the collections of the Scottish National Gallery and other museums.

Biography

Charlotte was born in St Andrew's parish,

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 ...

, one of eleven children, including six daughters, of

Alexander Nasmyth Alexander Nasmyth (9 September 175810 April 1840) was a Scottish portrait and Landscape art, landscape Painting, painter, a pupil of Allan Ramsay (artist), Allan Ramsay. He also undertook several architectural commissions. Biography Nasmyth ...

, the "foremost landscape artist of his day". Charlotte, in common with her siblings

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, Jane, Barbara,

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, and

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, worked as a studio assistant to her father in Edinburgh, and also taught art classes. After the death of their father in 1840, his legacy and an auction of 155 of the family's paintings gave the Nasmyth sisters financial independence, and enabled them move to England. Between 1831 and 1866, Charlotte exhibited her romantic landscapes and other works at 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 ...

, the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

, the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

, and other institutions. She painted mainly in oils, and sometimes in watercolours, and also produced some etchings. Her subjects include landscapes of north Wales and various regions of England, as well as Scotland, indicating that she travelled widely throughout Britain. She was the most prolific artist of the six sisters. Modern writers have described her as "the most flamboyant and wildest", working "with a greater freedom and panache than her sisters". Contemporary reviewers described Charlotte's paintings as "little gems", "delicious small-room pictures ... meant to .. form the individual treasure of some limited sphere of its own." Gnarled tree trunks with broken branches were a favourite subject of Charlotte's, and a reviewer in 1866 wrote of one of her landscapes, "This is the finest bit of tree painting in the exhibition; vigorous, crisp, and beautiful in colour." Charlotte died in Putney, Surrey, in 1884. A portrait of Charlotte by William Nicholson is in the collection of the National Galleries Scotland, and another by Andrew Geddes is in the British Museum.

Works

Charlotte Nasmyth Marlow lock from Cookham Dean

Works by Charlotte are held by the

Scottish National Gallery The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Play ...

, the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

Fine Art Collections,

Alloa Tower Alloa Tower in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, in central Scotland, is an early 14th-century tower house that served as the medieval residence of the Erskine family, later Earls of Mar. Retaining its original timber roof and battlements, the tower is ...

(the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...

), and Hill Top and the Beatrix Potter Gallery (the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

Selected works

* ''Highland Pass'' * ''Hampstead Heath'' * ''Musselburgh'' * ''The Bay of Naples'' * ''Pastoral Landscape'' * ''Kincardine Castle, Perthshire'' * ''View of Alloa and Stirling Castle from Clackmann Hill'' * ''The Entrance to Loch Katrine'' * ''At Barnes, near Putney'' * ''Penshurst Park, Kent'' * ''Near Penryn, North Wales'' * ''A Wooded Landscape with Travellers on a Path'' * ''View in Essex'' * ''Derwent Water'' * ''Strathearn, Perthshire'' * ''Burnham Beeches'' * ''Mill at Barton, Lancashire'' * ''Cottage in Epping Forest'' * ''Distant View of London from Norwood'' * ''Cottage of North Hope, North Wales'' * ''Marlow lock from Cookham Dean'' * ''Rome.''

References

External links

*
Images of Charlotte Nasmyth's paintings
on ArtNet * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nasmyth, Charlotte 1804 births 1884 deaths 19th-century Scottish painters 19th-century Scottish women painters Painters from Edinburgh Scottish landscape painters Scottish women artists Sibling artists