Conrad Martin Metz (1749-1827)

The Death of the Children of Niobe Rome, 1820 Pen and brown ink and wash, heightened with white 454 x 684 mm Metz lived in Rome from 1801 until his death in 1827. This highly-worked presentation drawing treats the slaughter of Niobe’s seven sons and seven daughters by Apollo and Diana, a subject from Ovid … Read more

Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878)

Interior of an Inn France, 1861 Etching Plate: 120 x 150 mm; paper: 270 x 223 mm; mount: 405 x 555 mm This interior shows the corridor of an inn lined with pairs of shoes and a broom, dramatically lit by a lamp. Daubigny also depicted this scene in daylight. The observation of a scene … Read more

Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878)

The Children in the Cart Auvers-sur-Oise, 1861 Etching Plate: 130 x 180 mm; paper: 280 x 250 mm; mount: 405 x 555 mm Daubigny watches from his boat as a woman, possibly his wife, assists a group of children pulling a cart. Madame Daubigny holds her youngest son’s hand while he rides sleepily in the cart. … Read more

Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878)

The Beach at Villerville France, 1850 Etching Plate: 125 x 215 mm; paper: 195 x 165; mount: 405 x 555 mm This peaceful scene presents groups of workers – men fishing in a small boat to the right while women collect shells from rock pools – whose survival was dependent on the sea. In the … Read more

Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878)

The Satyr Île-de-France, Paris, 1850 Etching 260 x 200 mm A satyr appears in a landscape that may have been inspired by the forest at Fontainebleu. As an artist renowned for a commitment to the faithful reproduction of nature, the presence of the satyr is uncharacteristic. Early in his career, Daubigny restored paintings at the … Read more

John Crome (1768-1821)

Mousehold Heath Norfolk, 1810 Etching Plate: 230 x 305 mm; paper: 350 x 465 mm; mount: 405 x 555 mm Mousehold Heath is to the north east of Norwich. The barren landscape was a popular subject for local artists in the first half of the 19th century. In this view of the heath Crome filters … Read more

Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917)

A Horse Trotting Paris, Model: late 1880s, Cast: Hébrard foundry, Paris, 1919-21 Bronze 23.0 x 8.4 x 22.5 cm Degas’ interest in horses is evidenced by his numerous paintings with racecourse subjects, such as the Barber’s magnificent ‘Jockeys Before the Race’ of c.1878-79. This model may have been inspired by a photograph of ‘The Trot’ by … Read more

EDGAR DEGAS (1834-1917)

Grande Arabesque, Third Time Paris, Model: about 1885-90; Cast: 1919-21 Bronze 44.5 x 55.3 x 29 cm Ballet dancers are Degas’ most famous subject matter, and he was clearly fascinated by the endless variety of their poses. This engaging study of concentration is the culmination of a series of three that show one of the … Read more

Pierre Étienne Théodore Rousseau (1812-1867)

Oaks Among Boulders Barbizon, 1861 Etching Plate: 13.4 x 21 cm; paper: 30 x 40 cm; mount: 40.5 x 55.6 cm  This etching was made from Rousseau’s painting La Chene de Roches and published in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts. Rousseau depicts the heart of the forest untouched by human intervention. Rousseau’s desire to represent nature … Read more

Arthur Illies (1870-1952)

Ripe Cornfield: Evening (Ahrenfeld am Abend) Hamburg, 1896 Colour etching on zinc 18.5 x 14.5 cm A fine impression on wove paper as issued in Pan in an edition of 1,600. This extraordinary colour etching is the product of deep biting a zinc plate and of one printing only. The colours are applied “à la poupée”. … Read more

Charles Samuel Keene (1823-1891)

The Coal Famine British, mid 1800s Pen and brown ink 16.8 x 11.4 cm A lady and a gentleman are seated either side of a table in overcoats and hats. The lady on the left reads an invitation to a ‘Fire Party.’ There is another work of the same subject in the Barber’s collection in … Read more

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

The Lime Burner London, 1859, published 1871 Etching with drypoint Plate: 25 x 18 cm; mount: 55.6 x 40.5 cm This is one of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames which Whistler completed by 1861. They resulted from a campaign of drawing along the river in which the artist sought to document its everyday … Read more

Samuel Palmer (1805-1881)

The Vine London, 1852 Etching Plate: 30.5 x 21.7 cm; paper: 41.5 x 29.5 cm; mount: 55.5 x 40.4 cm  Bacchus, the Roman god of agriculture and wine, leaps from his chariot in a burst of bright light to meet his followers. Vines creep across the ground and entwine themselves around trees, while plump cherubs … Read more

Samuel Palmer (1805-1881)

The Cypress Grove Redhill, Surrey, about 1880, completed 1883 Etching 13 x 19 cm    Set amid a mountainous nocturnal landscape, a group of nymphs mourn for the shepherd Daphnis who has been blinded by the nymph Nomia for being unfaithful. Loosely based on Virgil’s Eclogues (42-39 B.C.), this work may have been inspired by … Read more

Johann Baptist Zwecker (1814-1876)

Young Love Düsseldorf, 1840 Etching 24.1 x 28.7 cm  This Romantic etching is a highly atmospheric scene of love and death on a moonlit mountainside, taken from Heinrich Heine’s ‘Buch de Lieder’. ‘Love, O Love, it was your might, brought us to our sorry plight’. Their existence blighted by self-destructive love, ghostly figures rise from … Read more

Hans Thoma (1839-1924)

The Rest on the Flight into Egypt Frankfurt, 1893-97 Lithograph  20.2 x 23.2 cm  Thoma sets this scene of the Holy Family resting within a realistic representation of rural life. The religious imagery is understated. Instead of the divine intervention of an angel, a female figure brings food to the family. The solitary poses of … Read more

Adolph von Menzel (1815-1905)

A Study for ‘Contribution’ Germany, about 1884 Carpenter’s pencil with stumping 22.9 x 15.2 cm Menzel was the leading master of later nineteenth-century German art. In its deftness and subtlety of line and modelling, it compares with the life drawings of Degas, also represented in the Barber collection. The drawing is a study for the … Read more

Caspar Johann Nepomuk Scheuren (1818-1887)

The Castle by the Sea Düsseldorf, 1858 Watercolour over pen and pencil, partly heightened with white and gold 47.2 x 60.5 cm This depiction of Ludwig Uhland’s poem of the same name creates an atmosphere of melancholy and nostalgia typical of Romantic art. The king and queen, dressed in black in the middle frame, are … Read more

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

La vieille aux loques (The Old Rag-Picker) London, 1858  Etching 20.6 x 14.6 cm  An old woman sits in a doorway absorbed in sorting rags. Although the rag picker is shown as poor and frail, her focus and disengagement from the viewer creates a calm and contemplative image. The framing device of the doorway ensures … Read more

Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898)

The Battle of the Beaux and the Belles London, about 1896 Pen and black ink 25.7 x 17.6 cm This drawing was published in the 1896 edition of Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock (1714). Beardsley’s drawing illustrates the moment the heroine Belinda attacks the Baron (opposite) with her fan after discovering he has … Read more

Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878)

Apple Tree at Auvers (Pommiers à Auvers) Auvers, 1877 Etching on laid handmade paper, third state Plate: 18 x 27.5 cm; mount: 40.5 x 55.7 cm This print was made a year before Daubigny’s death in 1878. A peasant figure makes a path through the landscape equipped with tools for the cultivation of nature. The … Read more