Attributed to Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait, N.A. (British/American, 1819- 1905, working in Britain until 1850), "A Rocky Stream in the Scottish Highlands", c. 1856, oil on canvas, apparently unsigned, with stencil of Goupil & Co., New York, en verso of original support, 20 1/8 in. x 30 1/8 in., in a fine period giltwood frame. E7000-10000 Note: At the age of fifteen Tait went to work for the art dealer Thomas Agnew in Manchester, where he was especially influenced by the paintings of Sir Edwin Landseer (many of them Scottish scenes, above all of sporting subjects in the Highlands). He began exhibiting in Manchester in 1839, and in 1841 made an extensive sketching trip of his own through Scotland, which is documented in a journal (Adirondack Museum, NY), as well as in a handsome set of drawings and watercolors (Yale University CT). Tait spent most of the 1840s producing lithographs after topographical views, such as the one presented in this panoramic landscape. Wishing to expand his opportunities, however, he emigrated to New York in 1850, and began exhibiting paintings at the National Academy of Design, as well as the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, in 1852. In America he specialized in paintings of sporting subjects- among which scenes of fishing (as here) were a constant interest-that "were extremely popular, sold readily, and won wide acclaim" (Natalie Spassky, American Paintings, vol. 2, New York, 1985, p. 127). Tait became even more widely known in this country through his continuing activity of issuing prints: his collaboration with Currier and Ives, for example, also began in 1852. An engraving of his 1856 painting "Halt in the Woods" was published with great success by Goupil and Company; both parties' presumed satisfaction with that endeavor may perhaps suggest that the stenciled imprint of "Goupil & Co. / Artist's Colormen / & Print Sellers / 366 / Broadway / New York", on the reverse of this original canvas, might well link the date of this picture to that of the joint venture with the print. Tait was sufficiently well-organized to keep a full Register of all his American paintings (3 vols., 1850-1904, Adirondack Museum, NY), including title, description, support, dimensions, price, and buyer ( Spassky, p. 127); a campaign of research including his first volume ( through 1871), as well as Tait's Scottish journal in that same repository, and his Scottish drawings and watercolors at Yale, would almost certainly turn up the topographical source (as well, one hopes, as the actual record) of this splendidly evocative masterwork, with its dramatic image of salmon fishing in the Highlands.