ABINGDON, VA.- William King Museum of Art is presenting The House, The Highlands and the Great Big Sea. This showcase of Scottish art is on display from March 5, 2026 through August 30, 2026.

Scotland in the 19th Century was a place of conflicting emotions– with the many territorial disputes and historical conflicts between the highland clans and the English crown came political and economic turmoil, inciting authors like Sir Walter Scott and artists like the Faed brothers to create a romantic and at times nostalgic vision of green pastures and simple living. At the same time that Scottish cultural life was being re-evaluated as worthy of portrayal, Scottish men, sometimes out of desire and sometimes out of economic necessity, emigrated from the highlands, leaving behind wives, children and their elderly mothers and fathers. The hardship and the romance came together in a sentimental strain of art which emerged from Scottish and non-Scottish artists alike– Scotland became not just a territory, but a cultural entity and a point of pride. It was now a homeland, and a memory.

This exhibition, made up of a selection of works by Scottish artists, portrays scenes of life within and without the country of Scotland– men and women, children and grandparents, working, playing, traveling or reposing. Scenes of domestic life are flanked by scenes of the countryside, both of which are contrasted with images portraying the vast ocean and the overseas destinations visited by the artists. Whether they are images of childhood mischief like John Burr’s Domestic Trouble or realist scenes of the new world of work like Tomson Laing’s Gathering Seaweed, the pieces are evidence of not only the popularity of Scottish subjects among 19th century art-lovers but of the technical and thematic breadth of Scottish artists.

This exhibition is a William King Museum of Art original exhibition and is part of the museum’s McGlothlin Exhibition Series. It is generously sponsored by Dunburn Farms. A special thank you to our Annual Sponsors: Ballad Health Johnston Memorial Hospital and BurWil Construction Company.