The Hayloft, 1867. Watercolour and gouache on paper; 9 1/8 x 11 7/8 inches (23.1 x 30.2 cm). Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, accession no. 2016.65.3. Image identified as being in the public domain. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
North spent much of the 1860s living and working at Halsway Manor near Crowcombe in Somerset, By 1867 North had sufficiently established himself financially that he was able to give up illustrative work to concentrate on painting. This watercolour is likely to depict a scene in the barn at Halsway Manor and the surrounding West Somerset countryside with the Quantock Hills in the background. It shows a young country girl opening a window in the hayloft to let in the sunshine, resulting in the brilliant effects of light and shadow seen in the composition. She is looking downwards towards a conical wicker chicken coop (basket cage) that encloses a single large chicken. A number of objects are in the foreground of the stall in front of her including an old blue-and-white china plate and a brown stoneware water jug. As Donato Esposito has pointed out this work is highly reminiscent of William Henry Hunt's barn interiors (95), such as his Interior of a Barn of c.1837 in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art (accession no. 98.42). There can be no doubt that North painted this work, however, because the view of the surrounding countryside seen through the open window, even though this is extremely limited, is totally characteristic of his work and could not possibly have been done by any other artist. Esposito also remarks how: "The work presents a multitude of textures, captured with a variety of watercolour techniques including sponging and stippling" (95). In a letter of December 10, 1868 from Fred Walker to his friend J. G. Marks from Halsway Manor, Walker discusses and praises the work North is doing in watercolour in the late 1860s: "North here is doing capital work (water color), he is most sincere over it, each inch wrought with gem-like care. I hope he'll get into our Society [O.W.S.] this time; if his health is spared, I believe he'll do important things" (165).
Details
Bibliography
Esposito, Donato. Frederick Walker and the Idyllists. London, 2017, Chapter 4, 95-96.
Marks, John George. Life and Letters of Frederick Walker, A.R.A. London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd., 1896.
Created 21 May 2023