Landscape at Wotton, Surrey: Autumn by George Price Boyce (1826-1897). 1864-65. Watercolour on paper. Frame: 467 × 573 × 30 mm; support: 248 × 349 mm. Collection: Tate, ref. no. N05250. Bequeathed by Mrs Lawder-Eaton through the Art Fund, 1940. Image kindly released under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
The house in the painting is Wotton House, Surrey, the seat of the Evelyn family. The seventeenth-century diarist, John Evelyn, was born there, so it has a special literary interest. It was given a more imposing appearance later, but the situation remains the same: the scenery is that of the Surrey Hills, now designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Both writers and artists were drawn to it at this time, especially as the area was made more easily accessible from London by the opening of the railways: Boyce painted several spots in the locality (see Newall 56).
The house, seen from the rear, is set in a hollow here. The close attention to the little fence shows the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites, but what Boyce has captured most is the contrast between the little man-made structure, the tall, trimmed hedge and and the long sweep of the hill behind it, under the soft glow of the autumnal sky. Deciduous trees near the house are just acquiring their autumn tints. — Jacqueline Banerjee
Bibliography
Landscape at Wotton, Surrey: Autumn. Tate. Web. 12 August 2024.
Created 12 August 2024