The Friends

	Artist: John Maclaren Barclay
	Title: The Friends
	Year: c. 1875
	Medium: oil on canvas
	Dimensions:
	Suggested topic: Portraiture
	Source: RSA Diploma Collection
	View full screen image of this work
	Open print version of this work

Description: John Maclaren Barclay was a successful portrait painter both in his home town of Perth and in Edinburgh.This portrait, The Friends, shows an unnamed girl cuddling her dog, but she is also looking very directly at the viewer. Was this a pose demanded by the painter, or did the painter see this child in this exact situation and decide it would make an excellent subject? We will probably never know for sure. The clear-eyed gaze of the girl radiates pride and contentment. She is feeling the unconditional love of her pet dog and she is happy. But is there possibly a feeling of neediness on the girl's part? Perhaps she feels isolated, and the dog offers her companionship which she does not find elsewhere. This intimate portrait shows one side of her face in deep shadow in comparison to a formal portrait where the sitter is named and the fully-lit face is shown.The artist has not intended that we know who she is – the title indicates that it is the relationship between the girl and the dog he is interested in.The painting has been executed in sombre earthy colours, perhaps to describe the decorative tastes of Victorian drawing rooms or the muted gas-lit glow of evening. Soft shadows have been delicately rendered on the girl's skin, and the brush work describing her hair and her lace collar is especially fine. The composition focuses very closely on the two figures, and virtually nothing else can be seen in the painting. Barclay has created a spiralling line in this image. The viewer's eye is drawn first to the girl's eyes, before running down the curved line of her arm, past the dog's upturned eyes and finally back to the girl's eyes again. This cleverly draws us into the loving relationship between the young girl and her pet.