Broughton House is a mid-eighteenth century house in the town of Kirkcudbright. From 1901 to 1933 the artist Edward Atkinson Hornel lived and worked there. He was one of the ‘Glasgow Boys’ who were influenced by impressionist and post-impressionist painting, putting their own slant on it with work focusing particularly on rural scenes around Glasgow.

Early photograph of Broughton House

In 1901 Hornel bought Broughton House, bringing in his friend John Keppie, a partner in the firm Honeyman, Keppie and Mackintosh to advise on alterations. By 1902 his studio had been built and by 1910 he had become successful enough to add the Gallery to designs by Keppie and to buy the house next door (No. 10).

Early photograph of E.A. Hornel.
Images such as this helped with the interpretation of the paint cross sections

In 1919, Hornel established a Trust to which he could leave his house and its contents “for the benefit of the people of the Stewartry and visitors thereto”. He also started to build his collection of material on Dumfries and Galloway which now contains 25,000 books and manuscripts. The house also contains one of the best collections of works by and about Robert Burns.

I was commissioned to carry out the paint analysis to determine the sequence and specifically report on the colours and finishes used by Edward Atkinson Hornel.




View Larger Map