Hugh Buchanan (b.1958) is well known for his technically accomplished, large-scale views of historic interiors, and it is in this capacity that he has been commissioned a number of times by the National Trust to record interiors of Trust properties. He has recently completed an impressive series of interior views of castles and historic houses, including Hampton Court, Belvoir Castle, Strawberry Hill and Apsley House.

The watercolour in the V&A's collection Eaux-Fortes de Ruysdael(E.274-2009) was made in preparation for an exhibition (held in December 2008) at the Francis Kyle Gallery in London on the theme of libraries. Buchanan came to see the National Art Library in early 2008 and was shown the West Room, which at that time housed large volumes of prints and printed elephant folios. The title of the watercolour 'The Etchings of Ruysdael' is that of one of the volumes of prints represented.

The V&A has long had a keen interest in artists' working methods and for this reason has always sought out preparatory studies. The present work is a large-scale study for the finished watercolour.