Portrait of Charles Watson, Esq., and his wife, Lady Mary, with their two children, James and Anne, in a landscape

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David Allan
Born Alloa, 1744-1796

Portrait of Charles Watson, Esq., and his Wife, Lady Mary, with their two Children, James and Anne, in a Landscape, 1782

Oil on canvas
Presented by William G. Shiell, 1954
Museum Number 2-1954

Allan studied the newly fashionable classical style of painting in Rome in the 1770s. Back in Scotland, he developed the traditional conversation piece, an informal family portrait, combining his classical training with a charming naive style.

The foreground elements in the composition frame the landscape which recedes to the distant Firth of Forth.