Constable's Influence on Scottish Painter McTaggart Explored

William McTaggart was profoundly inspired by John Constable's artwork 'Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows' (1831), which he encountered at the 1857 Art Treasures Exhibition in Manchester. Although Constable questioned his own influence during his lifetime, he began this painting following the passing of his wife, Maria, in 1828. The Times harshly criticized the piece when it was shown at the Royal Academy. McTaggart, known as the 'Father of Scottish Painting,' examined Constable's oil sketches displayed at the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art from 1883 to 1887 and read C.R. Leslie's biography of Constable. In 1890, he produced 'The Storm,' a celebrated artwork portraying fishermen in a storm. Constable was connected to Suffolk and Salisbury, while McTaggart had ties to Kintyre. Constable first visited Salisbury in 1811 and returned until his death in 1837, while McTaggart relocated to Edinburgh for the Trustees' Academy but often revisited his hometown.