John Pairman (1788–1843) was a Scottish portrait and landscape painter operational in the 19th century. His style is derivative of his contemporary, David Wilkie.

Life

Pairman appears to have spent most of his early life in

Biggar, South Lanarkshire Biggar ( ) is a town, parish and former burgh in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, in the Southern Uplands near the River Clyde on the A702. The closest neighbouring towns are Lanark, Peebles and Carluke. History Biggar occupies a key location close ...

, but had strong ties 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 ...

in later life. He was the second son of Robert Tairman (sic), a farmer at Staine near Biggar. He was educated at the local schools in Biggar then later sent to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

as an apprentice draper. He returned to Biggar and opened a drapers shop around 1808. He spent much of his time painting and drawing. His portrait of his brother Robert drew the attention of the local minister, who gave him his first commission. This led him to abandon his shop and seek work as an artist, first in Glasgow, probably around 1815, and then to

probably around 1820. In the 1830s, his studio is listed as being at 13 Hanover Street in Edinburgh’s New Town just off

Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...

. He is noted as being a church member at Broughton Place Church on the eastern side of the New Town. In 1841, he appears as the President of the Edinburgh Society of Artists. He died in Edinburgh on 14 December 1843 and is buried in the parish churchyard in Biggar. His brother Robert held most of his early works. These have mostly been donated to the Biggar Museum Trust.

Known works

see *Robert Pairman (1782–1867) John’s brother (c. 1810), Biggar Museum Trust *Rev J Anderson (minister of Biggar) (c. 1811), Biggar Museum Trust *

Symington, South Lanarkshire Symington is a small village in South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary authorities of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains some of Greater Glasgow's suburban towns, as we ...

, Biggar Museum Trust *Family of Travellers Resting by a Donkey, Biggar Museum Trust *Female Study, Biggar Museum Trust *John Lamb of Carmichael, Biggar Museum Trust *Janet ("Jess") Brown, Wife of Dr David Smith, Biggar Museum Trust *Mrs Brown (an old lady), Biggar Museum Trust *Rachel Davidson, Biggar Museum Trust *A Cottage Interior, Hunterian Art Gallery,

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

*Self Portrait (c.1840),

Scottish National Portrait Gallery National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collec ...

*The Path to the Well with Tinto Hill Behind (1841) *Full-length portrait of Rev John Brown of Biggar *Professor Lawson of Selkirk *Bridge over the River Almond (1843), Biggar Museum Trust (Pairman’s final work)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pairman, John 1788 births 1843 deaths Scottish artists People associated with Edinburgh