Thomas Gainsborough, RA

With The Fine Art Society, London, by the 1960s;

British Private Collection until,

sale, London, Sotheby’s, 9 July 2014, lot 54,

when acquired by the present owner

With energetic strokes of rich black chalk, Gainsborough has apparently worked both with great confidence and with speed to bring to life this atmospheric landscape. In the lower left segment of the carefully conceived composition, a shepherd boy has tucked himself into the bank of a sunlit dell, while his small flock nibble away at what grass they can find before them.

The boy and his sheep find themselves in a truly wild place, high up in the mountains, with only hardy trees and a vast sky for company. Gainsborough’s assured lines are coupled with his masterly use of stumping – a technique where he has rubbed the freshly applied chalk with perhaps the palm of his hand or his thumb, to create not only shadows and depth but also a strong sense of fleeting sunlight and even wind.

This drawing has been dated, on stylistic grounds, to circa 1784, a year after Gainsborough had visited the Lake District. Although many of his earlier drawings record real places, the landscapes he executed in the final decade of his life are often capricci and see him responding strongly to themes of the picturesque. 

As is well known, Gainsborough made drawings, not to be sold or for commercial reasons, but for himself, for his own study or enjoyment. Numerous drawings survive which see him experimenting with the theme of the present work. Another particularly close example, in terms of composition, is held at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia.¹

^1.Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, Virginia, acc. no. 0074