He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1900, Royal Academician in 1915 and Senior Royal Academician in 1922. In addition to exhibiting over 200 works at the Royal Academy he showed 73 at the Royal Society of Arts and 181 at the Fine Art Society. He also exhibited at the Royal College of Art and the Tate Gallery. The renowned artist-critic, Sickert made Farquharson the subject of an essay comparing him favorably with Courbet. He extolled Farquharson's tension and realism and criticized the pretension of his polar opposites, the Bloomsbury Group, whose writ he said "fortunately does not run in the North of Scotland". The remarkable realism of Farquharson's work can be attributed to his desire to work "en plein air". This had to be carried out in a unique way which was adapted to the harsh Scottish climate. Farquharson had constructed a painting hut on wheels, complete with a stove and large glass window for observing the landscape. Likewise to achieve as realistic a result as possible when painting the sheep which frequently appear in his snowscapes, he used a flock of "imitation" sheep which could be placed as required in the landscape of his choice. Farquharson painted so many scenes of cattle and sheep in snow he was nicknamed 'Frozen Mutton Farquharson'.