Cattle by Water

Thomas Gainsborough 1727 - 1788

Summary

A reproduction produced by the Vasari Society of a drawing by Thomas Gainsborough. The drawing is of some cattle next to some water; there appears to be two large animals standing next to a few younger animals, but they are very loosely sketched. The pool of water is in the bottom right-hand corner. There are trees behind the cattle, their leaves indicated by short brushstrokes. Text from the accompanying booklet produced by the Vasari Society: "16. THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (b. 1727; d. 1788) CATTLE BY WATER Collection of Arthur Kay, Esq. Brush and black and grey wash, heightened with white. 34.7 x 26.7 cm. (13 5/8 x 10 1/2 in.). One of the landscape compositions of which Gainsborough drew so many in his later period, using often lumps of coal or bits of rock, with twigs, &c., when he worked by candlelight in the evenings to give the hint to his imagination. But 'composition' seems a heavy word to describe these things, which fascinate by their caressing lightness of touch and instinctive grasp of the wholeness of a design. L. B."