William McTaggart RSA RSW (British, 1835-1910) Autumn Leaves LasswadeWilliam McTaggart RSA RSW (British, 1835-1910)Autumn Leaves Lasswade signed 'W McTaggart' (lower right)oil on canvas80.5 x 62.5cm (31 11/16 x 24 5/8in).ProvenanceWith George Davidson Ltd., Glasgow.Mr T. G. Brownlee (shipbuilder), Glasgow (acquired from the above, 1917); thence by descent.Collection, UK.LiteratureJ. L. Caw, William McTaggart: A Biography and an Appreciation, Glasgow, 1917, p. 272.This works combines subjects at the heart of much of McTaggart's work; throughout his career he painted subjects of children, and Lasswade was where he lived. The 1870s marked a transition in the artist's painting style, where his Pre-Raphaelite inspired pictures of children developed into scenes of the countryside where the paint surface breaks out into a wild tangle of streaks, splashes and dabs - this style clearly shown in the present work. Tone was increasingly replaced by a rich awareness of colour, surface and texture.McTaggart moved From Edinburgh to the Midlothian village of Lasswade in 1889 and remined there until his death in 1910.