John Faed, R.S.A. (31 August 1819 – 22 October 1902) was aScottishpainter.
John was the eldest son of the six children of James Faed, tenant of Barlay Mill, near Gatehouse of Fleet, in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire,Galloway, and of Mary Faed,née McGeoch. Two other sons,Thomas, andJames, also became artists, as did his sisterSusan.
John began painting miniatures of local people when only nine years old.[1]
Until the age of 11, John attended Girthon Parish School. TheCastle Douglas Weekly Visitor for 19 August 1831 recorded that at the examination of Girthon school "the company present were shown a beautiful and correct book of maps, executed by John Faed, as a specimen of his many and varied drawings, which often ere now have elicited the admiration of all who have seen them".
He moved toEdinburgh in 1840 and in 1841 had his first exhibited work at theRoyal Scottish Academy. In 1848 he is listed as a miniature painter living at 6 SW Circus Place inStockbridge, Edinburgh.[2]
Faed primarily painted religious, literary, and historical scenes. He exhibited at theRoyal Scottish Academy and theRoyal Academy almost continually. When he was President of theKirkcudbrightshire Fine Art Association in 1899, his portrait ofSirIsaac Newton (painted when Faed was 36) was shown in the Dalbeattie Loan and Industrial Exhibition which took place in July and August that year. Faed also had a following in the United States.[3] HisPortrait of George Washington Taking the Salute at Trenton was the basis for aportrait bust engraving byWilliam Holl the Younger used to illustrate an article onWashington in theMagazine of American History in 1880.[4] His highly successful paintingShakespeare and his Friends at the Mermaid Tavern was sold to an American in 1851.
His paintings, popular in Victorian Britain, can today be found in private and public collections, including theNational Gallery of Scotland.
In 1859 he helpedJoseph Noel Paton raise the1st Edinburgh (City) Artillery Volunteer Corps from among artists in the city and served as its lieutenant.[5] He was an active member of the community where he finally made his home,Gatehouse of Fleet. He helped to conceive and develop a number of community projects such as the Gatehouse of Fleet Clock Tower andGatehouse of Fleet Town Hall, which was opened in August 1885 by his brother Thomas Faed, by then a celebratedAcademician.[6]
He exhibited at the RSA until 1895.[1]
Faed became seriously ill in the summer of 1902. He went to stay with his sisterSusan Faed near Gatehouse of Fleet and died there on 22 October at the age of 83. He was buried beside his wife, Jane McDonald (d.1897), near Gatehouse in the Girthon parish churchyard. Susan was buried with him in 1909.[7]
The known titles of his works amount to 278 items. Of these, 241 were hung in theRoyal Scottish Academy, twenty of which were exhibited in theRoyal Academy, and nineteen were exhibited in the Royal Academy only. The list is thought to be incomplete.
Portrait of Washington, steel engraving, by Holl
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