signed and dated 'J. Smetham. 1865' (lower left)
pencil, pen and brown ink and watercolour heightened with white, and with scratching out on paper
4 7/8 x 6¾ in.
Smetham is one of the most exciting associates of The Pre-Raphaelites. The son of a Wesleyan minister, he was inspired to be an artist by meeting Peter de Wint while living in Lincolnshire and his enthusiasm later fired by reading Ruskin's Modern Painters. He met Ruskin and Rossetti in 1854, however he rejected the pursuit of minute particulars which defined Pre-Raphaelitism; instead he envisaged a magical world suffused with colour. He took his subjects from the Bible, literature and fable, sometimes adopting a Symbolist bent.
2 comments:
I love the brilliance of the moss! (although I'm not too sure about some of his shading). Thanks for sharing this painting.
Thanks Margaret but I accidentally put the wrong image up - not sure how - old age I guess. The trees are by J.T. Wyatt. I've come across a lot of new Pre Raph pictures lately. There seems no end to what they produced - thank goodness.
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