Two Hares

William Bell Scott

1865–90 · Gouache (bodycolor), heightened with gum arabic, on paper · Drawings and Prints

These whimsical hares, facing one another heraldic style, once decorated Penkill Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland. In 1860, Scott had fallen in love with Alice Boyd, a student at the Government School of Design in Newcastle-on-Tyne where he was master. They formed a bond that lasted until the artist's death, even as he remained married, spending summers at Penkill. After Alice inherited the castle in 1865 from her brother, they welcomed Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, Arthur Hughes, and Lawrence Alma-Tadema as guests. The present work comes from a series of twenty-seven works on paper centered on animals, birds, reptiles and insects. When the castle changed hands in 1992, its contents were dispersed.

Artist

William Bell Scott

Date

1865–90

Medium

Gouache (bodycolor), heightened with gum arabic, on paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler, 2020