James Campbell Nobel, RSA

1846 - 1913

Born in Edinburgh. Trained RSA under Chalmers and McTaggart. Painted mostly landscape and seascapes. But also made portraits and rustic scenes, was also a lithographer and occasional watercolourist and etcher. He lived in Coldingham in the 1880s painting the rocky coast of Berwickshire. He trained RSA Schools under Chalmers and McTaggarts and, being favoured by the fomer, was considerably influenced by him. his early work made figures the central features of his rural scenes. Gradually, however he became more of a quintessential landscapist, favouring scenes of shipping, rivers, ports and pictures of the Medway, Tyne, Seine and Clyde.

He taught at Edinburgh School of Art having Arthur Melville as one of his pupils. Noble revisited Holland in 1900 and thereafter his most characteristic works were of Dutch waterways.