James Campbell Noble, RSA (1846 - 1913)
James Campbell Noble, RSA
(1846 - 1913)
"Spring Flowers"
Oil on canvas, 20" x 12"
(1846 - 1913)
"Spring Flowers"
Oil on canvas, 20" x 12"
James Campbell Noble was born in Edinburgh in 1846. He first studied art under William McTaggart at the Royal Scottish Academy, and his early paintings consisted mostly of portraits, idyllic plein air scenes of country life and rustic genre scenes, such as country cottage interiors. He was elected an associate member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1879, becoming a full member in 1892. He later became a teacher at the Academy and one of his pupils was the well-known Scottish artist, Robert Gemmell Hutchinson. Over the course of his career as an artist, he gradually broadened the subject matter of his paintings to include landscapes, and marine paintings, in particular. In addition to painting the landscape of his native Scotland, he also travelled extensively throughout Europe in search of suitable subjects to paint, and captured the scenic landscape of the rivers Seine, Merwede, Meuse and Rhine. He lived for part of his life in Holland and the area around the port of Dordrecht became one of his favourite places to paint. His Dutch port scenes and seascape paintings are now considered to be his most characteristic artworks, and are now in the collections of many art museums, such as the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, the National Gallery of Scotland, the Sheffield Art Museum and the Walker Art Gallery. Over the course of his life he was a consistent contributor to the Royal Academy exhibitions in London, where he exhibited from 1880 until 1896.