Description
Samuel Palmer developed a personal and emotionally charged style of landscape painting that celebrated nature as the product of divine creation. This watercolor of a spectacularly colorful sunset over the hills of Surrey was painted by Palmer toward the end of his life. An autumn sky heavy with rows of cumulus clouds shimmers in a pattern of pink and amethyst, as slivers of golden light emanate from the setting sun. The idyllic landscape is an elegy not only to a passing day, but to the brevity of life itself.
Provenance
George Gurney (by 1879-after 1882); (sale, Christie's, London, March 17, 1883, no. 182); Private Collection, England (1962); (sale, Sotheby's, London, November 14, 1962, no. 41); The Fine Art Society, London (1962-1963); Dr. Mark Fitch (1963-1987); (Leger Galleries, Ltd., London) (after 1987-before 2009); Private Collection, England (?-2009); (Lowell Libson, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) (2009); Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2009-)
Accession Number
2009.3
Medium
watercolor and gouache with graphite and scraping
Dimensions
Sheet: 25.6 x 35.4 cm (10 1/16 x 13 15/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Tags
Drawing Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Watercolor Graphite & Pencil Gouache British
Background & Context
Background Story
Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) was a British painter known for the luminous, visionary landscape paintings that make him one of the most accomplished painters of the British Romantic tradition. The Golden Hour from 1865 depicts the golden hour in the luminous, visionary manner that distinguishes Palmer's best work from the more general landscape painting of his contemporaries. Palmer was a member of the Ancients—a group of artists who were followers of William Blake—and his luminous, visionary landscapes represent one of the most accomplished traditions in British Romantic painting. The golden hour—capturing the luminous quality of light at sunset—was one of the most important subjects in Palmer's work.
Cultural Impact
The Golden Hour is important in the history of British painting because it demonstrates the luminous, visionary manner that Palmer—a member of the Ancients and follower of William Blake—brought to landscape painting as one of the most accomplished painters of the British Romantic tradition. Palmer's luminous, visionary landscapes—representing one of the most accomplished traditions in British Romantic painting—were enormously influential in the development of British art, and the 1865 painting shows this tradition at its most luminous.
Why It Matters
The Golden Hour is Palmer's luminous Romantic landscape: the golden hour rendered in the visionary manner of one of the most accomplished painters of the British Romantic tradition. The 1865 painting shows the luminous quality of light at sunset that is the hallmark of Palmer's visionary landscape painting.
