Study of an Ash Tree in Summer

James Hey Davies 1844 - 1930

Summary

A study of a leafy ash tree in summer, against a background of a meadow in which farm workers are gathering hay into stacks. There is a blue sky with white fluffy clouds, and a hay cart with horses to the right. James Hey Davies studied at the Manchester School of Art under W. J. Muckley. He went onto the Royal Academy Schools where he won the Turner gold medal for a painting 'Under the opening eyelids of the morn'. He exhibited first at the RMI in 1872 and in 1873 he was made an associate of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts. A year later he became a full member. This painting was originally framed together with its companion piece 'Study of an Ash Tree in Winter' when it was exhibited at Queen's Park Art Gallery in the 1880s. Ash was probably cultivated by early farmers who used it for making axe handles and it continued to have many uses throughout the nineteenth century including coach and railway carriage building. Due to the high demand most hedgerow ash trees were pollarded. The tree studied here by Davies was thus relatively unusual and was probably a tree self-sown in hedge subsequently cleared to make way for pasture.

Display Label

A Study of an Ash Tree in Winter 1883 A Study of an Ash Tree in Summer 1883 James Hey Davies 1844-1930 Oil on canvas The Ancoats Museum showed nature studies in an attempt to introduce a sense of the countryside to inhabitants used to overcrowding and pollution. Its founder, TC Horsfall, sought to offer an incentive for people to spend their leisure time outside the city, away from drinking and gambling in public houses. The Museum also established a rambling club. There was a specific display about trees and foliage which incorporated lithographs and photographs and featured these two paintings as its centrepiece. Like some of the other exhibits, they show a contrast between leafless winter and the summer canopy. Horsfall Museum transfer 1918.415 A&B