Samuel Palmer The Rising Moon London, about 1855, published 1857 Etching on chine collé 269 x 366 mm A shepherd and his flock return home at evening in a scene also known as ‘An English Pastoral’. Palmer assembles different landscape elements, imagined and observed. The solitary figure, the sheep, and the moon are familiar from … Read more
Joseph Mallord William Turner The Chain of the Alps from Grenoble to Chambéri British, 1812 Etching, with mezzotint by W. Say 186 x 288 mm This plate appeared in the tenth part of the Liber Studiorum series, and is based on sketches made during Turner’s 1802 European tour. He travelled specifically to see the Alps … Read more
Edward Lear Tabuan Parakeet British, 1832 Coloured lithograph Paper: 53.6 x 37.5 cm; mount: 71.5 x 53 cm Purchased 2006 (No. 2006.4)
James Abbott McNeill Whistler The “Adam and Eve”, Old Chelsea London, 1879 Etching on fine Japanese paper 17.6 x 30.4 cm Whistler’s depiction of life on the Thames in Chelsea is retrospective. This work shows an old riverside inn, The Adam and Eve, next to rows of dilapidated buildings which were demolished during the early … Read more
Graham Sutherland La Petite Afrique British, 1953 Lithograph This print is a study of a natural form that evokes a twisted and decaying human body, drawing comparisons with the Crucifixion images in Print Power. In 1953 he was working on the commission of a tapestry for Coventry Cathedral; there are echoes of that design in … Read more
William Hogarth Noon (second in sequence from ‘The Four Times of the Day’) London, 1738 Etching and engraving, black ink on paper Paper: 49 x 41 cm; mount: 80.8 x 60.5 cm Dour-faced worshippers shuffle into the bright midday light from the Protestant French Huguenot church at St Giles’s-in-the-Field, London. Across the street, the rowdy … Read more
William Hogarth Morning (first in the sequence from ‘The Four Times of the Day’) London, 1738 Etching and engraving, black ink on paper Paper: 48.8 x 39.7 cm; mount: 80.8 x 60.5 cm A wealthy spinster crosses Covent Garden Piazza on a freezing morning. The spinster’s attention is riveted on two embracing couples, causing her … Read more
William Hogarth Evening (third in the sequence from ‘The Four Times of the Day’) London, 1738 Etching and engraving with red ink Paper: 48.5 x 40.6; mount: 80.8 x 60.5 cm Clenched fists and furrowed brows indicate an oncoming tantrum as this brother and sister quarrel over a gingerbread man. The contrast between the children’s … Read more
William Hogarth Night (from the sequence ‘The Four Times of the Day’) London, 1738 Etching and graving, black ink on paper Paper: 48.6 x 40.2 cm; mount: 80.8 x 40.2 cm Disorder and chaos rule in this side-street of taverns and brothels near Charing Cross. Children sleep under a table while a drunken Freemason is … Read more
James Abbott McNeill Whistler 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 … Read more
Samuel Palmer 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 … Read more
Samuel Palmer 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 … Read more
James Abbott McNeill Whistler 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 … Read more
Thomas Rowlandson Dressing for the Masquerade London, 1790 Tinted etching Paper: 37.3 x 51.3 cm; mount: 51.7 x 63 cm The most obvious differences between this print and Rowlandson’s original drawing (Inv. No. 48.9) are the colours. The print has been hand tinted and consequently each version is slightly different from the others. The general … Read more
Joseph Mallord William Turner Ludlow Castle, from the North West, with the River Teme London, about 1800 Pencil, watercolour, scratching out on paper 35.7 x 57.2 cm Turner visited Ludlow in the summer of 1798 when he made a number of studies of the ruined castle and its surrounds. The pencil drawing of this scene … Read more
Gwendolen Mary John A Nun Seated at a Table Paris, the 1910s Black chalk on paper 32.4 x 23.5 cm This drawing of an unknown nun is closely related to the series of portraits of Mère Poussepin Gwen John executed from 1913, one of which is shown in the Blue Gallery. The artist worked from … Read more
Thomas Rowlandson Dressing for the masquerade London, 1790 Pencil, watercolour, pen and ink on paper 32.5 X 43.8 cm Four women dress for a masquerade; according to a paper held by the dishevelled figure to the right, it is to be held at the Pantheon in Oxford Street. She is disguised as a madwoman, a … Read more
David Cox Travellers near Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire Derbyshire, probably 1830s Watercolour with gum Arabic 26.5 x 36.5 cm Cox uses warm browns and reds to depict two men travelling through woodland towards Hardwick Hall, which can be seen in the distance. Hardwick, a celebrated Derbyshire country house built in the 1590s, was among Cox’s favourite … Read more
David Cox Snowdon Gwynedd, 1853 Black chalk and watercolour, on Scotch paper 21 x 37.2 cm David Cox often travelled to Wales and frequently portrayed the mountains of North Wales throughout his career. This rapid watercolour sketch was most likely completed on the spot. Cox increasingly used ‘Scotch paper’, a type of wrapping paper, during his later years. … Read more
David Cox Farmer on Horseback Passing a Windmill England or Wales, probably 1810-50 Watercolour 28.3 x 40 cm Birds circle the calm skies as a farmer slowly rides his horse past a windmill. The low horizon and large sky is typical of Cox’s preoccupation with depicting changeable weather and atmosphere. He returned to the theme … Read more
George Du Maurier The Triumph of Realism British, 1879 Pen, brown ink and pencil on card 254 x 358 mm Du Maurier was a Franco-English illustrator, author and cartoonist. This drawing was made for the satirical magazine Punch (1841-2002). The magazine is responsible for coining the word ‘cartoon’ in its modern sense, as a humorous … Read more
Thomas Gainsborough A Hilly Landscape London, about 1775-80 Black chalk and stump and white chalk on blue paper 270 x 335 mm Gainsborough rarely made drawings as preparation for a painting and at this date he did not work from nature. Instead, landscape drawings such as this were made as private studio exercises in which … Read more
Percy Wyndham Lewis A Portrait of the Artist’s Wife, ‘Froanna’ (Gladys Anne Hoskins 1900-1979) America, 1940 Pencil and coloured chalks on blue paper 48.3 x 31 cm This portrait of the artist’s wife Gladys Hoskins (1900-1979), known as Froanna, was made in America where Lewis spent the war years. The artist bought the distinctive blue … Read more
Charles Samuel Keene 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 … Read more
