Representing the Irish emigrant: humour to pathos?

Cullen, Fintan

Abstract

The nineteenth-century artist, Erskine Nicol (1825–1904) is well known for his anecdotal and humorous paintings of Irish themes. This article analyses one of his larger oils to show that on occasion he attempted a more serious representation of the rural Irish figure which asks for empathy as opposed to ridicule. The focus is on An Irish Emigrant Landing in Liverpool (signed and dated 1871; Scottish National Gallery). A key part of the analysis is an exploration of the relationship between the painting and a published account of a visit to England by the Irish emigrant depicted.

Citation

Cullen, F. (2017). Representing the Irish emigrant: humour to pathos?. Visual Culture in Britain, 18(2), 176-191. https://doi.org/10.1080/14714787.2017.1328987

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 24, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jun 29, 2017
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Sep 12, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 30, 2018
• Journal: Visual Culture in Britain
• Print ISSN: 1471-4787
• Electronic ISSN: 1941-8361
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 176-191
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14714787.2017.1328987
• Keywords: emigration, humour, empathy, pathos, Liverpool, Ireland, nineteenth century, caricature
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/967100
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14714787.2017.1328987
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Visual Culture in Britain on 29 June 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14714787.2017.1328987.
• Contract Date: Sep 12, 2017