'By the Water's Edge'
George Henry Boughton (Norwich 1833 – London 1905)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1875 - 1900
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
140 x 127 mm (5½ x 5 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Wightwick Manor, West Midlands
NT 1288941
Caption
A young woman rests against a tree, looking down by a lake. This picture combines Boughton’s favoured subject-matter: the female form and landscape. The artist was born in Norwich, but brought up in America, later studying art in Paris. He eventually settled in London, exhibiting at the Royal Academy, and the Leicester and Grosvenor Galleries, amongst others. His output was varied, and he also painted portraits, genre scenes, historical subjects, as well as sporting pictures. John Ruskin disliked his technique, describing it in a memorably vitriolic phrase as “executed by a converted crossing sweeper, with his broom, after it was worn stumpy.”
Summary
Oil painting on panel, 'By the Water's Edge' by George Henry Boughton (Norwich 1833 – London 1905), signed with initials GHB, 1875 - 1900. A young woman rests against a tree, looking down by a lake. This picture combines two of Boughton's frequent subjects, female figures and landscape, and like much of his work is very decorative. Boughton was born in Norwich but brought up in America. He studied in Paris, and settled in London in 1862. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Leicester and Grosvenor Galleries, The Fine Art Society, Agnews and many other galleries. He also painted portraits, genre scenes, historical subjects and sporting scenes. Ruskin disliked his technique, describing it in a memorably vitriolic phrase as "executed by a converted crossing sweeper, with his broom, after it was worn stumpy".
Provenance
Purchased from The Fine Art Society April 1971/transferred to the National Trust on the death of Sir Geoffrey Le Mesurier Mander (1882-1962)
Marks and inscriptions
The Fine Art Society Ltd.April 1971.£85. (label)
Makers and roles
George Henry Boughton (Norwich 1833 – London 1905), publisher