Art terms

Celtic Revival

The Riders of the Sidhe
Image credit: Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council)

The Riders of the Sidhe 1911

John Duncan (1866–1945)

Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council)

A style based on an antiquarian revival of interest in ancient Celtic art in Britain and Ireland. Mainly a decorative style, it first appeared in the 1840s and reached its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It manifested itself in metalwork, jewellery, embroidery, wall decoration, wood inlay, stone-carving, and textiles. Its most celebrated practitioners included the Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the English metalwork designer Archibald Knox.

Text source: 'The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms' (2nd Edition) by Michael Clarke

Scotland's Art: The Celtic Revival

The Celtic Revival was an interdisciplinary movement which started in Ireland and quickly gained popularity in Britain and Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Proponents of this revival sought to identify and explore aspects of early-Medieval Celtic culture in their art, music, poetry and literature.

This video explores the history of the style, and the key artists involved in its practice.

Video credit: National Galleries Scotland

Find out more

Celtic Revival on Oxford Art Online

Artworks

  • Masque of Love
    Masque of Love John Duncan (1866–1945)
    Paisley Museum and Art Galleries
  • Three Studies for the Decoration of the First Mortuary Chapel, the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh
    Three Studies for the Decoration of the First Mortuary Chapel, the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852–1936)
    National Galleries of Scotland: National
  • Pan
    Pan Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852–1936)
    National Galleries of Scotland: National
  • Death and the Crown
    Death and the Crown Alec Grieve (1864–1933)
    Paisley Museum and Art Galleries
  • Ivory, Apes and Peacocks (The Queen of Sheba)
    Ivory, Apes and Peacocks (The Queen of Sheba) John Duncan (1866–1945)
    Glasgow Museums Resource Centre (GMRC)
  • Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587), at Fotheringhay
    Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587), at Fotheringhay John Duncan (1866–1945)
    University of St Andrews
  • The Turn of the Tide
    The Turn of the Tide John Duncan (1866–1945)
    The Fleming Collection
  • 33 more

Artists

  • The Housewife
    Stewart Carmichael (1867–1950)
  • Tristan and Isolde
    John Duncan (1866–1945)
  • Stair in the Blackout
    David Simpson Foggie (1878–1948)
  • A Perthshire Harvest
    Alec Grieve (1864–1933)
  • Japanese Lady with a Fan
    George Henry (1858–1943)
  • The Balcony, Yokohama
    Edward Atkinson Hornel (1864–1933)
  • Triptych with Angel*
    Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852–1936)

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