The Knife Grinder

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Robert McGregor
Born Yorkshire, of Scottish parents, 1847-1922

The Knife Grinder, 1878

Oil on canvas
Presented by J C Low, 1920
Museum Number 5-1920

This was painted at Largo, Fife, using locals as models. McGregor's rural subjects were straightforward, not sentimental, and were a strong influence on early Glasgow Boys paintings.

It shows the Victorians' nostalgia for rural subjects, when many were moving from the land to the expanding industrial cities.