Oil paint on canvas
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/william-mctaggart-366" aria-label="More by William McTaggart" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">William McTaggart</a>
Harvest Moon
Presented by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest 1933
adults
agriculture and fishing
astronomy
corn
couple
field
figure
harvesting
landscape
Midlothian
moon
people
places
plants and flowers
Scotland
seasons
sex and relationships
society
summer
UK counties
UK countries and regions
work and occupations
<p>McTaggart frequently worked on the same view from more or less the same spot and, rather like Monet, he often recorded the same spread of fields at different times of the day or year. The setting for this picture is near the artist's home, Dean Park, at Broomiknowe, Midlothian, and comparisons can be drawn with works such as <i>Hayfield, Broomiekowe</i> (1889, Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery) and <i>The Barley Field, Sandy Dean</i> (1905, Robert Fleming Holdings), which are painted from almost the same viewpoint. In all these works McTaggart witnessed the rotation of the crops from cereals to hay and expanded the view towards the low Moorfoot Hills. For each picture he employed a different palette, according to the light and atmospheric conditions. <i>The Harvest Moon</i>, 'glows with warm amber, buff and gold, the twilight sky a soft shade of green' (Errington 1989, p.116), giving the sense of a warm evening at the height of summer. In the foreground children sprawl on the grass, lulled to sleep by the warmth of the day. They await their parents, who have almost finished work for the day. A young couple strolls hand in hand through the cut meadows, and in the middle distance the newly-harvested stooks of corn are clearly visible. In 1883 McTaggart may have seen the Impressionist exhibition staged by Durand-Ruel at Dowdeswell's Gallery in Bond Street; and from this date onwards he began painting even his largest canvases out of doors. He based this work on a smaller study on panel, now in the National Gallery of Scotland. Like the study, the finished version is sketchy in its handling; and like an Impressionist painting, the figures are subordinated to the overall atmosphere. All detail is suppressed and McTaggart concentrates on building up the composition in horizontal bands of golden colour, interspersed with soft lilacs, pinks and reds. As Errington notes, 'the cornfields …seem to offer natural opportunities for playing with contrasted touches of pure, or nearly pure colour, but the artists's use of these touches of colour is intuitive, rather than systematised according to any optical principles' (Errington, p.116). <b>Further reading:</b>Lindsay Errington, <i>William McTaggart 1835-1910</i>, Edinburgh 1989, pp.116-7, reproduced p.117, in colour. Frances FowleDecember 2000</p>
painting oil paint canvas
11 September 2007 – 15 December 2007
2007-12-15
11 September 2007 – 19 January 2008
2008-01-19
2007-09-11
Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation (London, UK)
2007-09-11
William McTaggart
Loan-out
The Harvest Moon
support: 1321 × 1959 mm
frame: 1575 × 2225 × 145 mm
Presented by the Trustees of the <a href="/search?gid=999999977" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Chantrey Bequest</a> 1933
<p>McTaggart frequently worked on the same view from more or less the same spot and, rather like Monet, he often recorded the same spread of fields at different times of the day or year. The setting for this picture is near the artist's home, Dean Park, at Broomiknowe, Midlothian, and comparisons can be drawn with works such as <i>Hayfield, Broomiekowe</i> (1889, Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery) and <i>The Barley Field, Sandy Dean</i> (1905, Robert Fleming Holdings), which are painted from almost the same viewpoint. In all these works McTaggart witnessed the rotation of the crops from cereals to hay and expanded the view towards the low Moorfoot Hills. For each picture he employed a different palette, according to the light and atmospheric conditions. <i>The Harvest Moon</i>, 'glows with warm amber, buff and gold, the twilight sky a soft shade of green' (Errington 1989, p.116), giving the sense of a warm evening at the height of summer. In the foreground children sprawl on the grass, lulled to sleep by the warmth of the day. They await their parents, who have almost finished work for the day.  A young couple strolls hand in hand through the cut meadows, and in the middle distance the newly-harvested stooks of corn are clearly visible. 

</p><p>In 1883 McTaggart may have seen the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/i/impressionism" title="Glossary definition for 'Impressionism'"><span>Impressionist</span></a> exhibition staged by Durand-Ruel at Dowdeswell's Gallery in Bond Street; and from this date onwards he began <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> even his largest <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/canvas" title="Glossary definition for 'Canvas'"><span>canvases</span></a> out of doors. He based this work on a smaller study on <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/panel" title="Glossary definition for 'Panel'"><span>panel</span></a>, now in the National Gallery of Scotland. Like the study, the finished version is sketchy in its handling; and like an Impressionist painting, the figures are subordinated to the overall atmosphere. All detail is suppressed and McTaggart concentrates on building up the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/composition" title="Glossary definition for 'Composition'"><span>composition</span></a> in horizontal bands of golden colour, interspersed with soft lilacs, pinks and reds. As Errington notes, 'the cornfields seem to offer natural opportunities for playing with contrasted touches of pure, or nearly pure colour, but the artists's use of these touches of colour is intuitive, rather than systematised according to any optical principles' (Errington, p.116).

</p><p><b>Further reading:<br/></b>Lindsay Errington, <i>William McTaggart 1835-1910</i>, Edinburgh 1989, pp.116-7, reproduced p.117, in colour.

</p><p>Frances Fowle<br/>December 2000<br/></p>
Summary
2005-09-15T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
adults agriculture and fishing astronomy corn couple field figure harvesting landscape Midlothian moon people places plants and flowers Scotland seasons sex and relationships society summer UK counties UK countries and regions work and occupations