THE ART
S SS Sir William Quiller Orchardsonir William Quiller Orchardsonir William Orchardsonir William Orchardson
(27 March 1832 – 13 April 1910)
ORCHARDSON, Sir WILLIAM QUILLER (1832–1910), artist, born in Edinburgh on 27 March 1832, was only surviving son of Abram Orchardson, tailor, by his wife Elizabeth Quiller. The artist traced his father's family to a Highland sept named Urquhartson. His mother's family of Quiller was of Austrian origin.
On 1 Oct. 1845, when thirteen and a half, he entered the art school in Edinburgh known as the Trustees' Academy on the recommendation of John Sobieski Stuart [q. v.]. He enrolled himself as an 'artist.' The master of the Academy, Alexander Christie, A.R.S.A., taught ornament and design, and John Ballantyne, R.S.A., took the antique, life and colour classes. They were not inspiring teachers, but Orchardson made rapid progress. Erskine Nicol, Thomas Faed, James Archer, Robert Herdman and Alexander Eraser were amongst his fellow students, and gave him the stimulus of friendly rivalry.
Sir William Quiller Orchardson by Henry WeigallStudy of the Christ Child
On the North Foreland
Mary Queen of Scots
Music when soft voices die, vibrates in the memory