RSA Scottish Art
Turnip Singlers
 | Artist: William Darling McKay |
| Title: Turnip Singlers | |
| Year: 1883 | |
| Medium: oil on canvas | |
| Dimensions: | |
| Suggested topic: | |
| Source: RSA Diploma Collection | |
| View full screen image of this work | |
| Open print version of this work | |
| Description: William Darling McKay specialised in the portrayal of the ordinary country lives of the people of his own area, especially East Lothian. Turnip Singlers depicts the slow, backbreaking and labour-intensive task of thinning out the crop under the ever-watchful eye of the grieve (or supervisor). Set close to East Linton and the present A1 road, it records in a realistic and unsentimental way one aspect of country life at a particular time of the year. This image acts as important evidence of what farming life was like in the 19th century. We now see intensive, mechanical farming methods everywhere, with regular fields and huge machines. This image shows us the reality of working the land before modern methods took over. Although this work is clearly very tough, McKay shows us the beauty of being out on the land on a sunny day. There are several styles of painting employed in this work. The most striking of all is the sweeping expanse of sky, with billowing clouds and a deepening blue rendered in an elegant but painterly manner. The figures have been handled with great care and are shown with some detail. The patchy, stippled paint on the ground perfectly captures the rough texture of the soil. The long furrows of the field, disappearing in a sweeping curve over the horizon, emphasise the endless nature of the task in hand. The singlers are spread out in a curving line leading the viewer's eye into the distance, where rolling hills are just visible. The repeating lines of the hoe-handles is another device to lead the eye to the horizon. The most compelling feature of the composition is the sky. Try holding a piece of paper over the screen just above the trees. What happens to the composition (and therefore the balance of the painting) when the sky is removed? | |
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