A watercolor of cattle with a herdsman, behind them are trees and in the distance, a church.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A loosely executed black chalk drawing with watercolor washes and white highlighting. There are a few cattle and a herdsman in the foreground, behind them are trees. In the distance, in a gap in the trees, there is a church with a spire. The sky is large with white cumulus clouds.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1979.46
People
Thomas Gainsborough, British (Sudbury, England 1727 - 1788 London, England)
Title
Wooded Landscape with Herdsman, Cows and Church
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
18th century
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/295233

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black chalk and transparent watercolor, lead white applied dry, the whole dipped in skim milk, on cream antique laid paper
Dimensions
22 x 31 cm (8 11/16 x 12 3/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Philip and Frances L. Hofer, Cambridge, Massachusetts; bequest of Frances L. Hofer, 1979.46

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Frances L. Hofer
Accession Year
1979
Object Number
1979.46
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • John Hayes, The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, Yale University Press (U.S.) (New Haven and London, 1971), cat. no. 337
  • Eunice Williams, Master Drawings and Watercolors: The Hofer Collection, exh. cat., ed. Konrad Oberhuber and William W. Robinson, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, 1984), cat. no 41, pp. 49-50, repr. p. 119
  • Jonathan Derow, "Thomas Gainsborough's Varnished Watercolor Technique and It's Place in the History of English Landscape Watercolor Painting" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, March 1988), Unpublished, pp. 1-124 passim
  • Edward Saywell, "Guide to Drawing Terms and Techniques", Harvard University Art Museums Bulletin, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1998), vol. VI, no. 2, pp. 30-39, p. 38 under "White chalk"
  • Hugh Belsey, "A Second Supplement to John Hayes's 'The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough'", Master Drawings (Winter 2008), vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 427-541, p. 443
  • An Exceptional Eye: A Private British Collection, auct. cat., Sotheby's, London (14 July 2010), under lot 67
  • Old Master Drawings, auct. cat., Sotheby's, New York (New York, January 26, 2011), under cat. no. 655
  • Stephen Ongpin Fine Art Master Drawings 2015, auct. cat., Stephen Ongpin (2015), in relation to cat. 12 (n.p.) and n. 7

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2220 18th-19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 02/28/2022 - 07/11/2022

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu