The Heart of Surrey, by George Vicat Cole (1833-1893). 1874. Oil on canvas. H 142.2 x W 214.5 cm. Accession no.1895.1, purchased from Thomas Agnew and Sons ltd, 1895. Credit: Manchester Art Gallery, via Art UK. The image is available to be shared and re-used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (CC BY-NC-ND.
In this painting, a sheepdog is herding the sheep forward through the dale, with the shepherd coming along behind half-hidden by the ferny undergrowth. In the opinion of Vicat Cole's biographer Robert Chignell, the warm evening light here makes this, the last of his brother-in-law's great Surrey views ... a masterpiece" (46), Chignell continues,
In no landscape are the glowing hues of evening more soft and brilliant, in none is the depth of shadow more forcible, in none are the subdued tones more subtle. A tranquil beauty fills the scene. The details of the various parts are studied with minuteness, yet with due consideration for their place on the canvas, and the subject is brought together into one perfect whole with much artistic skill and feeling. As an example of the possibility of combining truth of detail and delicacy of finish with breadth of handling and a sense of atmosphere and space, this landscape is well worth studying, and the painting itself leaves a lasting impression on the mind as a masterly realisation of a familiar scene of English rural beauty, lit up by gleams of rare poetic inspiration. [46-47]
Interestingly, Chignell then goes on to defend the painting against the charge that the subject is "commonplace": in the art section of the Annual Register for 1874, for example, it was indeed described as "a typical example of Mr Vicat Cole's stock landscape" (370), the kind of work which both he and his father were either "unable or unwilling" to go beyond (370). Chignell, however, feels nothing could be worthier than this very English view, with its subtle treatment of the evening light and shadows; "nothing more perfect than the lines of composition, the harmony of colour, and the sense of repose which the picture reveals" (47).
Patriotic fervour pervades Chignell's appreciation of this work, as well as loyalty to his subject. That the Agnew firm of art dealers bought The Heart of Surrey, and then sold it to the Manchester Art Gallery, suggests that many people agreed with him. — Jacqueline Banerjee.
Links to related material
- George Vicat Cole, RA (1833-1893): A Biographical Introduction
- William Agnew (Thomas's son), painted by Frank Holl
Bibliography
Burke, Edmund, ed. "Art." The Annual Register, 1874. London: Rivingtons, 1875. 366-375. Google Books. Free Ebook.
Chignell, Robert. The Life and Paintings of Vicat Cole RA. Vol. II. 3 vols. London: Cassell, 1896. Internet Archive, digitised from copies in the Getty Research Institute. Web. 29 September 2022.
The Heart of Surrey. Art UK. Web. 30 September 2022.
Created 30 September 2022