FDA-D.258-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-D.258-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
Rocky Landscape with Shepherd and Sheep, and Cows and Goat at a Pool
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
Comments
One of the most powerful and beautiful of Gainsborough's late drawings, this shows the artist at play with the elements of landscape. The composition includes every one of his favourite landscape ingredients - rocks, trees, a pool, a cottage, a church tower, cattle, a shepherd and sheep. The whole construction has an air of artificiality and the sheep are abstract in the exxtreme, the flock having been reduced to a form of necklace that partially encircles one end of the pool. They are quite out of scale in relation to the cows and to the shepherd, and their presence can only be explained by the need to provide some light accents and movement in the shadowy left hand quarter of the picture. Drawings of this kind, probably made in the mid-1780s, are often discussed in the context of Gainsborough's excursion to the Lake District in 1783 and with reference to his use of table top models constructed from lumps of coal, sprigs of herbs and shards of mirror glass. There can be no doubt that the experience of the Lakes and the use of models fuelled his imagination, but the artist seems simply to delight in the art of drawing. It is worth noting that the seeds of compositions such as this were sown early in Gainsborough's career: a neat pencil drawing of the early 1750s, 'Landscape with a Cottage, a Herdsman and a Cow', now at Gainsborough's House, Sudbury, is very different in technique, but quite similar in arrangement, with a circular pool at the centre, a cow reflected in the water and a cottage in the mid-distnace.
A similar drawing, titled 'A Woodland Pool with Rocks and Plants' (c.1765-70) is in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art.
A similar drawing, titled 'A Woodland Pool with Rocks and Plants' (c.1765-70) is in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art.
Other number
Pi 248
Description
Dimensions
height (actual size): 251mm
width (actual size): 326mm
width (actual size): 326mm
Materials & techniques note
Pencil, black chalk and grey wash heightened with white, with scratching out
Production
Person
Gainsborough, Thomas, 1727 - 1788 (Artist)
Date
c. 1785
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Collection of Alan Pilkington; by whom presented/bequeathed to Eton College
Previous ownership
Pilkington, Alan, 1879 - 1973: With Colnaghi, 1952; from whom purchased by Alan Pilkington 1952. Bequeathed to Eton by Alan Pilkington, 1973
Broughton, Thomas Partridge: Thomas Partridge Broughton collector's stamp (on the reverse)
Witt, Robert Clermont (Sir), 1872 - 1952
Broughton, Thomas Partridge: Thomas Partridge Broughton collector's stamp (on the reverse)
Witt, Robert Clermont (Sir), 1872 - 1952
References
• Ryan, H., Hidden Treasures, W.S. Fine Art exhibition catalogue, 2010 (p. 18-19, no. 4)
• Hayes, J., The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, London, 1970 (p. 280, no. 751)
• Herrmann, L., A loan exhibition of English drawings and watercolours in memory of the late D.C.T. Baskett, 30th July to 23 August 1963, P&D Colnaghi & Co, London, 1963 (no. 18)
• Hayes, J., Landscapes by Thomas Gainsborough, Nottingham University Art Gallery, 1962 (no. 55)
• Pilkington, A., Loan exhibition of early English watercolours, drawings by Old Masters, etchings & engravings from the collection of Alan D. Pilkington: in aid of the Distressed Gentlefolk's Aid Association, Colnaghi & Co, London, 1958 (no. 47)
• Woodall, M., Gainsborough's Landscape Drawings, London, 1939 (p. 133, no. 362)
• Heil, W., Loan exhibition of English Painting of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries June 6th to July 9th, 1933, San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1933 (no. 77)
• Hayes, J., The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, London, 1970 (p. 280, no. 751)
• Herrmann, L., A loan exhibition of English drawings and watercolours in memory of the late D.C.T. Baskett, 30th July to 23 August 1963, P&D Colnaghi & Co, London, 1963 (no. 18)
• Hayes, J., Landscapes by Thomas Gainsborough, Nottingham University Art Gallery, 1962 (no. 55)
• Pilkington, A., Loan exhibition of early English watercolours, drawings by Old Masters, etchings & engravings from the collection of Alan D. Pilkington: in aid of the Distressed Gentlefolk's Aid Association, Colnaghi & Co, London, 1958 (no. 47)
• Woodall, M., Gainsborough's Landscape Drawings, London, 1939 (p. 133, no. 362)
• Heil, W., Loan exhibition of English Painting of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries June 6th to July 9th, 1933, San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1933 (no. 77)
