An Old House at Laon. W. G. Collingwood (1854–1932). 1882. Oil on canvas. © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford (ref. http://ruskin.ashmolean.org/object/WA.RS.WAL.10).
On his visit to the town of Laon that year with John Ruskin, Collingwood wrote:
On the Saturday he woke up to sunshine at Laon, and took me round the town, setting me to work on various points. He began a drawing of the cathedral front, which he finished on the Monday before leaving. It was always rather wonderful how he would make use of every moment, even when ill-health and the fatigue of travelling might seem a good reason for idling. At once on arriving anywhere he was ready to sketch, and up to the minute of departure he went on with his drawing unperturbed. In the afternoons he usually dropped the harder work of the morning, and went for a ramble out into the country ; at Laon the hayfields and pear orchards south of the town gave him, it seemed, just as much pleasure as Chamouni. [47-48]
Related Material
Bibliography
Collingwood, W. G. Ruskin Relics. London: Isbister and Co., 1903.
Created 2 July 2020