A Country Lane by Sir James Lawton Wingate (1846-1924) is a serene oil painting depicting a quiet rural road bordered by tall, bare trees and a whitewashed cottage. Figures, including children and a rider on horseback, animate the scene, lending it a gentle rhythm and sense of everyday life. Created after Wingate’s move to Crieff and later Muthill, the painting reflects his transition from Pre-Raphaelite precision to a looser, more atmospheric approach influenced by Impressionism. The soft light, muted palette, and expressive brushwork convey Wingate’s deep connection to the Scottish landscape and his growing reputation as a master of poetic, rural subjects.

James Lawton Wingate, 1846-1924

Scottish painter Sir James Lawton Wingate RSA was born on October 9, 1846, in Kelvinhaugh, Glasgow. He was active in the late nineteenth century. After his father passed away, he began working as a commercial assistant at the age of twelve for his uncle's business. He attended Glasgow School of Art's drawing classes in the early hours. At the Glasgow Fine Art Institute, he debuted his career in 1864. The praise he got inspired him to quit his job and travel throughout Italy in 1867–1868 while producing 150 watercolour drawings. Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites were among Wingate's earliest inspirations, but he ultimately adopted a strict naturalism. When he eventually made it back to Scotland, he settled in Hamilton and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy, where he honed his talent at painting landscapes and woodland scenes. In Hamilton, he encountered Miss Fairbairn, the famous landscape painter's daughter, who would eventually become his wife.

He relocated to Crieff and then to Muthill in 1874. He gained notoriety by painting rural genre scenes and subsequently increasingly impressionistic landscapes. He was honored in 1919, the same year he was elected president of the RSA. He later relocated to Colinton and then Slateford. A brief time before his death on April 22, 1924, in Edinburgh at the age of 77, he submitted his resignation as RSA President.