Near Dumfries

Samuel Bough was a self taught landscape painter from Carlisle who came to play an important role in the development of watercolour landscape painting in Scotland. Bough was influenced by the landscapes of Horatio McCulloch but, more often than McCulloch, he was drawn to marine subjects - busy harbours and beaches or fishing villages, where human and meterological activity was more evident.   Bough moved to Scotland in 1848 and settled in Edinburgh after a few years in Glasgow. From this base he travelled around Scotland and further afield to the Lake District and the Continent. He often sketched and painted in watercolour outside. He handled watercolour very freely, often achieving wonderful effect in skies. In this he was the predecessor to William McTaggart, the painter later famed for his capture of weather and atmosphere. Bough also painted in oil.