Dean Castle by Moonlight

This atmospheric painting shows Dean Castle in ruins as it was throughout the 19th century.   Horatio McCulloch was born in Glasgow, the son of a reasonably successful cotton manufacturer. He received lessons in painting from the landscape painter John Knox and his first job was painting snuff boxes for the firm Messrs Smith in Mauchline. His next job was in Edinburgh at W. H. Lizars Printworks adding watercolour washes to prints. Whilst living in Edinburgh he associated with the Rev. John Thomson the landscape painter and friend of Sir Walter Scott. These two were influential on McCulloch, giving him a feel for the wild romance of Scotland's landscape and its historical associations. He eventually returned to Glasgow to live and from there made many trips around Scotland, particularly to the Highlands and Islands. The paintings he brought back from these trips were very popular among a middle class living in an increasingly urbanised Scotland.