The Sketcher

George Barret the Younger ca.1767 - 1842

Summary

Wide, flat landscape depicting a man sitting beside a small pond, sketching the view before him. Beside the artist, a dog sits quietly, sleeping while its owner works. Behind the two, a second dog sits amongst dense foliage, looking to the left of the viewer. To the right of the artist, a group of trees look over the small expanse of water, within which the reflection of a ruined fort can be seen. On the left side of the pond, a herd of cattle take solace in the cool water, and in the distance, the flat landscape lines the horizon beneath a hazy sky.

Display Label

The Sketcher probably mid-1820s George Barret Junior 1767 – 1842 Oil on panel Perhaps Barret was picturing himself as he drew the artist in the foreground of this genteel landscape. He specialised in landscapes of mood, capturing a peaceful evening atmosphere rather than a particular place. The birch trees and the ruin could be British, but the golden light over the distant hillscape has an Italian feel - perhaps because Barret was so influenced by Claude Lorrain, the great seventeenth-century landscape artist who painted in Rome. Although this is an oil painting, Barret usually painted in watercolour. Regarded as a master of the art, he published a treatise on the subject in 1840, and was apparently going to write about oil painting too, had death not intervened. Dr David Lloyd Roberts Bequest 1920.542