Study for Haytime, by Thomas Armstrong. 1868. Pencil, watercolour and gouache with scratching out on paper; 283/4 x 153/4 inches (73 x 40 cm). Private collection.
This study for the finished oil gives us some indication as to Armstrong's working methods when working up a major composition. L.M. Lamont has commented: "Life settled down into something of a routine. The mornings were given almost unremittingly to work in the studio, more frequently from a model than not, though painstaking studies and experiments in methods were made for the pictures in progress. The work received criticism from brother artists, who with new friends in other professions came to the studio in the afternoons" (24).
If one compares this early watercolour study of the left hand side of the composition to Armstrong's finished painting Haytime there are noticeable differences between the two. In the study the woman's hair is a light brown while it is dark brown in the oil. In the study the woman's dress pattern is the same but the colour has more of a yellowish tinge as compared to the whiter tone of the dress in the oil version that is now closer to the colour of her apron. In the study the baby's fallen shoe lays flat and points in the opposite direction. In the finished work the hay stacks on either side of the woman are greener, reduced in number, and simplified in detail. There is a range of what appears to be deep blue hills beyond the line of trees in the study whereas a dense green forest replaces this in the painting. The trees in the midground in the oil painting are closer together and their density does not allow much light to shine through them whereas the trees do in the study. The sky in the study is at twilight with purple tinges while in the painting it is blue with scant clouds. The climbing vine in the study is seen ascending the left side of the white outbuilding rather than hanging from the roof.
The fabric of the woman's dress is one of the remarkable features seen in this study. Liberty of London had not yet opened in 1868 but likely such fabrics were available from Messrs. Farmer and Rogers in Regent Street where Arthur Lasenby Liberty worked from 1862 onwards prior to opening his own store in 1875. After the International Exhibition of 1862 at South Kensington closed Farmer and Rogers bought many of the goods from the Japanese Pavilion and opened their Oriental Warehouse. J. M. Whistler, D. G. Rossetti, William Morris and Albert Moore became their customers so very likely Armstrong did as well.
There is also a known oil sketch of the same size as this watercolour study for the standing figure of the woman holding the infant. It appears to be later than the watercolur study because it is closer in design to the finished painting. The woman now has dark brown hair. The background is intermediate between that of the watercolur sketch and the finished oil. This sketch at one time belonged to Frederic Leighton, probably as a gift from Armstrong, and was hung on the staircase in Leighton's House at 12 Holland Park Road. It is currently on loan to the Leighton House Museum from a private collection.
Bibliography
Lamont, L. M. Thomas Armstrong, C.B. A Memoir. London: Martin Secker, 1912.
Created 19 March 2023