Sir Edwin Landseer – Scene in Braemar
Scene in Braemar by Sir Edwin Landseer, a little known sister painting to The Monarch of the Glen, is at Sotheby’s Old Masters evening sale in London on July 1. The estimate is £3-£4 million. Painted by 1857, the nearly nine-foot canvas has long been understood as a darker and more mysterious sister painting to Landseer’s iconic image of the Highland stag – one of the most recognisable symbols of British art.
The title locates the scene at Braemar in the eastern Highlands, close to Mar Lodge, where Landseer frequently stayed while stalking in the Deeside forests. This was the part of Scotland he knew most intimately – near Blair Atholl, another of his regular haunts, and Balmoral, the royal residence built for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who were among his most important patrons.