The Valley of Slaughter, Skye

In this painting, MacWhirter illustrates the magnificent force of nature in his native Scotland, where he was primarily known as a watercolourist. The scene depicted here is on the Isle of Skye, in the Hebrides, known for its mountain scenery and its history, associated with the Norse invasion and settlement. In 1896, MacWhirter provided illustrations for an article in Magazine of Art describing the beauty of Skye’s landscape, where the “play of light and shade at morning and at evening upon these marvelous crags and peaks” is often seen “under driving mist and storm cloud,” giving them “a most impressive appearance.” MacWhirter's paintings exemplify what the celebrated English critic Ruskin described as "the contemplative order" of landscape. MacWhirter instructed his students to "study Turner for light and atmosphere, Millais for everything."