The Vagrants. 1871. Watercolour and gouache over graphite on cardboard; 6 7/8 x 5 7/8 inches (17.4 x 14.9 cm). Collection of the National Gallery of Canada, accession no. 6902. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
The Vagrants was exhibited at the memorial exhibition of Pinwell's works held at Deschamps' Gallery in 1876, no. 54A, lent by Edward Dalziel. It was later shown at the New Gallery, London, in 1897-98, no. 166. This watercolour supports George Williamson's contention that, of the Idyllists: "Pinwell was the most poetic in imagination, and the greatest colourist. His inventive power was of a very high order, his imaginative fancy, refined grace, and pathos, marked him out from his fellows; but his love of pure colour and capability of using it in jewel-like quality constitute, together with his ability to combine figures in a dramatic manner, perhaps the greatest claims to importance" (Preface vi).
This watercolour shows two vagrants, a man and a woman, carrying their meagre possessions and approaching a cottage to beg for food, At the door stand an elderly woman and a young boy. To the right can be seen a dog, half out of his kennel, and barking at the intruders. The man holds a switch in his right hand in case he should need it to beat off the dog. Numerous flowers occupy the foreground space. When it was exhibited at Deschamps' Gallery it was accompanied by these lines from Charles Dickens' Uncommercial Traveller written for the weekly magazine All the year Round and that appeared on June 16, 1860: "Ah! You are a foine breed o' dog, too, and you ain't kep for nothink! I'd take it werry koind o' your master if he'd elp a traveller and his woife as envies no gentlefolk their good fortune, wi' a bit of your broken wittles. He'd never know the want of it, no more would you. Don't bark like that at poor persons as never done you no arm; the poor is down-trodden and broke enough without that.
Links to Related Material
- "This is a sweet spot, ain't it?" (Pinwell's illustration of tramps for Dickens's The Uncommercial Traveller
- The Irish Vagrants by Walter Deverell (1853-54)
- The Vagrants by Frederick Walker (1868)
- The Vagrants in the Woods by Matt Somerville Morgan (1863-64)
Bibliography
Esposito, Donato. Frederick Walker and the Idyllists. London: Lund Humphries, 2017. 64.
Williamson, George C. George J. Pinwell and His Works. London: George Bell & Sons, 1900. vi, 79 and 110.
Created 14 May 2023