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In a Shoreham Garden

Watercolour
ca.1830 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Palmer, Samuel (artist)
Place of origin
Shoreham (painted)

Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) taught himself to paint. He greatly admired the work of the artist and poet William Blake (1757-1827). He especially admired Blake’s visionary approach and his lack of respect for conventional watercolour techniques.

This watercolour has a magical, powerful and dreamlike quality. Palmer painted it during his ‘Shoreham Period’. He stayed in Shoreham, a village in the English county of Kent, from 1826 until about 1834.

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Object details

Categories
Paintings
Gardens & Gardening
Object type
Watercolour
TitleIn a Shoreham Garden (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour
Water-Colour
Painting
Brief description
Watercolour entitled 'In a Shoreham Garden' by Samuel Palmer. England, ca.1830.
Physical description
An apple tree in blossom in a walled garden and beyond the tree stands a woman in a red robe.
Dimensions
  • Height: 28.2cm
  • Width: 22.3cm
Style
British School
Gallery label
Samuel Palmer 1805-1881
In a Shoreham Garden
About 1829


Palmer's religious faith pervades the early paintings he produced at Shoreham in Kent. This magical work echoes the Garden of Eden. It includes an apple tree in blossom, a lone woman and a snake-like creeper at the lower right. Palmer once wrote, 'spring showers, blossoms and odours in profusion...Breathe on earth the air of Paradise'.

Watercolour and gouaces on paper

Purchased 1926
Museum no. P.32-1926
Subjects depicted
Gardens
Apple Trees
Woman
Robe
Places depicted
Shoreham
Kent
Summary
Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) taught himself to paint. He greatly admired the work of the artist and poet William Blake (1757-1827). He especially admired Blake’s visionary approach and his lack of respect for conventional watercolour techniques.

This watercolour has a magical, powerful and dreamlike quality. Palmer painted it during his ‘Shoreham Period’. He stayed in Shoreham, a village in the English county of Kent, from 1826 until about 1834.
Bibliographic references
  • Vaughan, William, Barker, Elizabeth E., Harrison, Colin, et al. Samuel Palmer 1805- 1881 : Vision and Landscape. London : British Museum Press 2005 no. 66
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1926, London: Board of Education, 1927.
  • Coombs, Katherine British watercolours : 1750-1950 . London: V&A Publications, 2012 p.123, pl.116
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
P.32-1926

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O17825/in-a-shoreham-garden-watercolour-palmer-samuel/
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