The Glasgow International Exhibition – Sir John Lavery Art Print

In the summer of 1888, Lavery spent his days painting in the grounds of the Glasgow International Exhibition — not the grand ceremonial record of the event, but small, quick studies of ordinary visitors enjoying a sunny afternoon. This one shows the riverside walk near James Sellars' Palace of Industry: a crowd strolling toward the entertainment arena, and in the foreground, a solitary man perched on a fence, cigar in hand, watching a gondola on the River Kelvin — imported specially, along with its gondolier, for the occasion. Lavery returned to that gondola motif more than once, and even used it on his own exhibition invitation card.

There's a genuinely open question about this painting: the viewpoint and figure placement match another documented Lavery Exhibition scene closely enough that some scholars think the man on the fence might be Lavery himself — making this one of his rare self-portraits.

The exhibition itself was enormous. Opened in May 1888 and held at Kelvingrove Park, it drew 231,713 visitors in its first six days alone — nearly double Manchester's equivalent event the year before. Lavery, already an established exhibitor, spent the summer working almost as an unofficial artist-in-residence, documenting everything from the sculpture gallery to the fireworks. That October, fifty of these studies were shown together at the Craibe Angus Gallery to real critical success — praised at the time not as quick sketches but as fully realised pictures in their own right.

Sizes & Format

• 40 × 50 cm / 16 × 20″
• Available framed (black, white, wood) or unframed

Print & Frame Details

Archival matte paper, 250gsm (110lb), acid-free and FSC-certified — off-white, uncoated. Framed prints: solid oak or ash wood frame, 20mm thick, with shatterproof protective glazing. Ready to hang, hanging kit included. Unframed prints ship flat.

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