Returned Triumphant: Loans to ‘John Ruskin: Artist and Observer’
12 January – 2 April 2015
Celebrating the return of items lent to the ‘John Ruskin: Artist and Observer’ exhibition, held in Ottawa and Edinburgh.
“In an old house roof, a bad observer and bad draughtsman will only see and draw the spotty irregularity of tiles or slates all over; but a good draughtsman will see all the bends of the under timbers.”
John Ruskin, The Elements of Drawing, Letter 2: Sketching from Nature
In 2014, the Ruskin Foundation was the largest single lender to an exhibition of John Ruskin’s drawings and daguerreotypes, the most comprehensive since the Tate Britain centenary exhibition in 2000. The exhibition, entitled ‘John Ruskin, Artist and Observer’, was hosted at the National Gallery of Canada from 14 February – 11 May and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery from 4 July – 28 September. The number of loans to this from our Museum reflected its standing in holding the most important collection of Ruskin’s work in the world: the Whitehouse Collection.
In 2015, forty-nine of these loans were displayed in our galleries. Included were ten of the twelve daguerreotype photographs used in the exhibition to emphasise Ruskin’s focus on observational drawing, especially of Northern European Gothic architecture, as a means of understanding both nature and human endeavour.
Several of the most celebrated works from the Whitehouse Collection were displayed, including The Walls of Lucerne (1866), Vineyard Walk, Lucca (1874) and North West Porch of St. Mark’s, Venice (1877). This was a rare chance to see these works together, alongside others covering a wide range of Ruskin’s interests and experiences in life over nearly half a century.
