From June 27 to July 1, Sotheby’s London presents an unprecedented opportunity to view “Scene in Braemar—Highland Deer,” by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, in a pre-sale exhibition. It is the first public exhibition of the work in more than 20 years.
Landseer’s romanticized painting of the wild Scottish Highlands centers on a huge russet-brown stag bellowing out across the mountain peaks. Its call cuts through the silence, disturbing a resting hind and a mountain hare. The hind twists its head, and the mountain hare pricks its ears in curiosity. Through the mist, a young stag and hind gaze up at an eagle carrying its prey, gliding toward its nest mate across the heather valley.
Sotheby’s estimates the painting will fetch three to four million pounds (nearly US$4 million to over $5 million), a new record for the Victorian artist.
Many may not know Queen Victoria’s favorite painter by name, but they will likely recognize at least two of Landseer’s works.
The genre and animal painter designed the four 22-foot-tall bronze Barbary lions that guard Nelson’s Column in London’s Trafalgar Square. In addition, the artist’s monumental depiction of a Scottish Highland stag in “The Monarch of the Glen” is lauded as one of Britain’s greatest paintings.
‘Scene in Braemar—Highland Deer’
Sotheby’s lauds the nearly 9-foot high “Scene in Braemar—Highland Deer” as the “sister” of “The Monarch of the Glen.” Painted nearly a decade apart, both works feature the Scottish Highlands where the artist painted and stalked deer nearly every autumn since his early 20s.
Located in the eastern Highlands, Braemar is near Balmoral, the home Queen Victoria and Prince Albert built. The couple were Landseer’s patrons for over 30 years. He painted endearing genre paintings of the royal family with their pets.
Often known as the “king of animal painters,” Landseer had an astute knowledge of animal anatomy. He studied the works of eminent 18th-century animal painter George Stubbs, especially his animal anatomy drawings. Just like Stubbs, Landseer dissected animal corpses, even obtaining a lion for his Nelson Column bronzes.
An Emblem of Scotland
Landseer’s majestic “monarch” is as synonymous with Scotland as haggis. Just 10 years ago, the National Galleries of Scotland, purchased “The Monarch of the Glen” at Sotheby’s London, after a public fundraising campaign.
The fate of “Scene in Braemar—Highland Deer” is unknown. But it could be the last chance to see the work.
The pre-sale exhibition of “Scene in Braemar—Highland Deer,” by Sir Edwin Landseer, at Sotheby’s London, runs from June 27 through July 1. To find out more, visit Sothebys.com.
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