The Thorn by James Clarke Hook RA, 1819-1907. 1871. Oil on canvas. H 78.7 x W 139.8 cm. Collection: Walker Art Gallery, accession no. WAG 717, given by George Audley, 1925. Kindly released by the gallery on the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence (CC BY-NC), and downloaded from Art UK.
This touching composition shows a shepherd extracting a thorn from his collie's paw, while a child, half crouching down to see better, looks on intently. The sheep behind the little group seem to be waiting patiently. Juliet McMaster explains that this was painted in Churt, where the Hooks had established themselves in their bustling homestead, Silverbeck, in the west of Surrey. Hook had first decided on this spot in the company of fellow-artist Samuel Palmer (see McMaster 147-48), and would live there until his death in 1907. One of its attractions was its clear-water springs, making a meandering stream ("Siverbeck" means "Silverstream"). — Jacqueline Banerjee
Bibliography
McMaster, Juliet. James Clarke Hook: Painter of the Sea. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2023 [Review]
The Thorn. Web. 29 September 2023.
Created 29 September 2923