Tour Scotland Photograph A Nip Against The Cold Painting By Erskine Nicol

Tour Scotland photograph of A Nip Against The Cold painting by Erskine Nicol, who was born on 3 July 1825 in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. After initial apprenticeship as a decorator he turned to art. He was a student at the Trustees' Academy, Edinburgh, where he studied with Sir William Allan, and Thomas Duncan. On qualifying he initially taught as an Art Master at Leith Academy. He taught in Dublin, Ireland, from 1845 to 1850, at the height of the Irish famine, and identified with the oppression of the Irish people and much of his work portrays the injustices inflicted upon the Irish population during the 19th century. In 1850, he moved to Edinburgh. He lived at 1 Blenheim Place, a fine Georgian flat at the top of Leith Walk. He was made an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1851 and an Academician in 1859. In 1862 he left Edinburgh and moved to St John's Wood in London, England, then in 1864 moved to 24 Dawson Place in west London. He also purchased a studio in Clonave in County Westmeath in Ireland and enjoyed finishing canvases there until ill health forced him to curtail his travelling. He thereafter used a disused church in Pitlochry in Highland Perthshire to complete his works. He died at The Dell, Feltham, on 8 March 1904. He is buried with his second wife in Rottingdean.



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