Artists Profile

J. B. Fraser

(1783 – 1856)

James Baillie Fraser was a Scottish man of many talents with a bold and adventurous spirit. He was a traveler, writer and artist who recorded his journey of Asia Minor and India in great detail. In 1816, he travelled to India, where his brother William was an agent of the Governor General. He reached Calcutta in the hopes of setting up a trade but the business failed. Fraser than decided to meet his brother William in the foothills of Nepal, where he was posted and they went exploring the Himalayan region for two months. Fraser was stunned with the enchanting landscape and started sketching the scenery. The duo embarked on a journey seeking the sources of Ganga and Yamuna rivers and became the first Europeans to do it. Fraser, who was mentored by artist George Chinnery, was an excellent artist in watercolor and his picturesque format of painting where he masterfully converged the essence of the landscapes in a captivating way. Upon his return to Calcutta, he published his memoirs and paintings as Journal of a Tour through Part of the Himala Mountains and to the Sources of the Rivers Jumna and Ganges. He continued to publish landscapes while trying to perfect his technique in portraiture.