Cabbage Garden

This work is the first painting that Melville exhibited at the Royal Academy, and a work in which he signalled a radical advance in his own development. In this picture he not only located his work specifically in East Lothian but also illustrated his awareness of European artistic developments, especially the work of Barbizion and Hague school artists. Furthermore, it can be seen as a precedent for Guthrie's iconic 'A Hind's Daughter', a centrepiece of the National Gallery of Scotland's world class Glasgow school collection.