William McTaggart, R.S.A., R.S.W.

Mr. P. McOrmish Dott, Colinton;
Private Collection

Edinburgh, Aitken Dott & Son, Exhibition of Thirty Six Paintings by W. M. McTaggart, R.S.A., 1907

James Caw, William McTaggart, Glasgow, 1917, p. 268

STRUCTURE Original canvas. PAINT SURFACE There are approximately three very small chips to the paint along the right hand side horizon and a further couple to the extreme upper right corner. Also evidence of a small restored spot of paint damage in the upper left corner. Minor surface dirt but otherwise in good original condition. ULTRAVIOLET UV light reveals a spot of retouching to the aforementioned damage in the upper left corner. FRAME Held in a lightly decorated gilded composite frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"Another group of harvest pictures having evening effects for motive. He did not, however, paint the pomp of sundown so much as the effulgence of mellow light, which, on clear calm evenings, gilds the landscape opposite the setting sun with golden radiance. If indescribable in words, the rich and warm yet soft and clear shining of the autumn tinted countryside, suffused in this lambent light, lives and blooms in some of his pictures with a perculiar delicacy, at once vivid and exquisite. Rare in nature, but even rarer in art, this combination of vividness and exquisiteness is the essence of that lovely idyll 'Sunset Glamour' (1894). The sheeny sky, between delicate blue and more delicate green, but shot with hints of purple and orange and gold, in which the moon is rising, and the faint far distance which trembles beneath it; the nearer fields of shining gold, blended with rose and orange and warm grey; and the two children lying dreaming in the foreground, red poppies in their hands, are all alike transmuted into something rich and rare by its benign influence. Looking at it, one comes under the spell of a high spiritual beauty, expressed with a skill so subtle that one is not conscious of the means by which it has been evoked." (James Caw, William McTaggart, p. 157)