James Cassie RSA (1819 – 11 May 1879) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

and animal painter.

Life and work

Cassie was born at Keith Hall,

Inverurie Inverurie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Uraidh'' or ''Inbhir Uaraidh'', 'mouth of the River Ury') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at the confluence of the rivers Ury and River Don, Aberdeenshire, Don, about north-west of Aberdeen. Geography ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

, in 1819. A childhood accident left him permanently lame. He determined on art as a career and became a pupil of James Giles RSA, a painter of highland scenery and animals. Cassie settled in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, where the sea and fisherfolk on its shores provided inspiration for his art. In his style, he preferred broad harmonious effects to elaborate detail, and he most excelled at marine landscapes. However, he also painted animals, portraits and domestic scenes. He worked in both

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturat ...

and

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

, and showed several pictures 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 ...

(RSA), 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 ...

(RA), and other

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

exhibitions. In 1869, he was elected an Associate of the RSA and moved 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 ...

, where he remained for the rest of his life. He was also a member of the

Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) is a Scottish art society established in 1878. The current patron is Charles III. It is a registered charity based in Glasgow and holds an annual exhibition. The first preliminary meeting ...

(RSW). In February 1879, he was elected a full member of the RSA, but his health had been failing for some time and he died on 11 May that year. Cassie was a friend of

John Phillip John Phillip (19 April 1817 – 27 February 1867) was a Scottish painter best known for his portrayals of Spanish life. He started painting these studies after a trip to Spain in 1851. He was nicknamed John 'Spanish' Phillip. Life Phi ...

, who painted a portrait of him. An anecdote describes how he and Philip were on a sketching holiday together, in Aberdeenshire and the northern

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

, when they chanced to meet fellow artist Sam Bough at a remote hostelry. Bough drew some sketches on the spot for the two friends, which Cassie described as "just beautiful".Gilpin, Sidney.
Sam Bough
' (G. Bell & Sons, 1905). Cassie is buried in the northern section of

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

on the north side of its central path, towards the western end.

Selected works

*''Holy Island Castle''. *''Chalk Cliffs, Sussex''. *''A Highland Goatherd''. *''The Mouth of the Mersey''. *''The Mussel Gatherers''. *''Morning — East Coast of Scotland'' (in 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 ...

). *''Dumbarton Castle Sunset'' (1874).

References

Attribution: *

External links

James Cassie on ArtnetDogs Belonging to the Duchess of Gordon
(Bourne Fine Art Gallery)
Aberdeen Harbour
(National Gallery of Scotland)
Entrance to Aberdeen harbour
("Aberdeen Quest") {{DEFAULTSORT:Cassie, James 1819 births 1879 deaths 19th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters Scottish landscape painters Scottish portrait painters British genre painters People from Inverurie Royal Scottish Academicians 19th-century Scottish male artists