CRAWFORD, Edmund Thornton, RSA (1806-1885)
Biography
Born Cowden, near Dalkeith, died Lasswade. Painter in oil and watercolour, Scottish landscape, coastal and shipping scenes, harbours. Son of a surveyor. As a boy he was apprenticed to a house painter in Edinburgh before proceeding to study at Trustees Academy where among his fellow students was R.Scott Lauder. And William Simson, the latter becoming a close friend. In 1831 visited Holland where he studied Dutch 17th century paintings becoming preoccupied with tone. Influenced by John Wilson and John Thompson but most by Van de Velde in seascapes and Hobbema in landscapes. His work has been liked in its spirit and period to that of Patrick Naysmyth. Sense of movement and the composition generally pleasing. .Elected RSA 1848.
