R. R. McIan
| RR McIan | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1803 Scotland |
| Died | 18 December 1856 (aged 52–53) Hampstead |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Painting |
| Notable work | Scottish clan paintings |
| Movement | Romanticism |
| Awards | Associate of the RSA |
Robert Ronald McIan (1803 – 13 December 1856), also Robert Ranald McIan, was an actor and painter of Scottish descent. He is best known for romanticised depictions of Scottish clansmen, their battles and domestic life.
His wife, Fanny McIan, was a painter and early teacher of art to women.
McIan was born in Scotland, in 1803. He became an actor with the joint company of the Theatre Royals in Bristol and Bath before making his way to London. In 1838 he played at the Covent Garden Theatre and at Drury Lane in the following year. He gained a reputation for playing Highlanders on the stage, at a time when the novels of Sir Walter Scott had revived interest in Highland culture.
It's not clear when he gave up the stage to devote himself to painting. He played the jester in the Eglinton Tournament of 1839 and the 1885 DNB says he retired in that year. A letter from Charles Dickens mentions seeing McIan perform on 23 June 1841, not long before McIan's wife started a steady job as a teacher.
WP Frith described McIan as "a Highlander and fierce Jacobite",Henry Vizetelly wrote that he "was generally voted an intolerable bore".
McIan eloped with and married Frances (Fanny) Whitaker (c.1814–1897), daughter of a Bath cabinet maker. A friend described them as "The painter and his painter-wife – two who went hand in hand, and heart with heart, together through the world".
Mrs McIan was a noted painter in her own right, who exhibited at the Royal Academy and other leading galleries. She too favoured historical subjects from the Highlands, such as Highlander defending his Family at the Massacre of Glencoe. The Highlander in question would have been a MacDonald of Glencoe, also known as Clan McIan. From 1842 until Robert's death she was the first Superindent of the Female School of Design, which became the Royal Female School of Art and ultimately part of the Central School of Arts and Crafts.
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