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Lot Essay
This small but highly evocative landscape is typical of the small paintings in oil and tempera on board or panel that mark the culmination of Palmer's years in 'The Valley of Vision' at Shoreham, Kent, which he had visited from 1824 and where he settled from 1826 until 1835. Grigson analysed the development of Palmer's style in these years, stating that '1832 and the next two years ripened his experience into a good harvest' (Grigson, 1947, p.107). He continues by describing the works of 1833 and 1834 as 'full, serene, and balanced ... It is not mannerism, it is not anecdote. It is the form and language of nature heightened and compressed, condensed into a completeness' (ibid, p.109). Particularly noticeable in Landscape, Twilight, as in Scene at Underriver (Grigson, 1947, p. 186, no. 131, illustrated in colour pl. 2), is the way in which an idyllic pastoral scene takes on a Christian quality, in the Underriver picture echoing the Flight into Egypt, and in Landscape, Twilight with a suggestion of an aged pilgrim finding succour in the heavenly light that emerges from the cottage door.
The precise date of Landscape, Twilight is uncertain. The label on the back is almost certainly Palmer's 'sending-in' label for the Royal Academy's annual exhibition; similar labels appear on the backs of The Bright Cloud ('No 3'; Grigson, 1947, p. 188, no. 136, pl. 62; Lister, 1988, p. 91, no. 169, illustrated), Scene at Underriver ('No 4'; Grigson, 1947, p. 186, no. 131, pl. 2 in colour: Lister, 1988, p. 92, no. 170, illustrated) and The Harvest Moon ('No [5]'; Grigson, 1947, p. 186, no. 129; Lister, 1988, p.91, no. 168, illustrated) all have the Lisson Grove address, which Palmer used from 1832, despite still spending most of his time in Shoreham. Not all pictures sent in for exhibition were actually accepted, and sometimes a title would be changed: Scene at Underriver does not appear in any Royal Academy catalogue, nor in those of the British Institution where Palmer also exhibited from 1819 until 1853 (his Royal Academy exhibits date from 1819 until 1873). Works by Palmer entitled 'Landscape-twilight' were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1832, 1833 and 1834, though his seven exhibitions of 1832 seem to have been confined to pen and wash drawings in indian ink; a letter written by Palmer to his friend George Richmond in September of that year, apparently about his exhibits, speaks of 'my blacks' (see Grigson, 1947, p. 99). That leaves 1833 and 1834. Of the other works with sending-in labels The Harvest Moon was probably the picture he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1833, no. 64, the only exhibit to be so titled. Both Grigson and Lister suggest, for The Bright Cloud, either that it was the picture exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1833, as no. 356, 'Rustic scene', or as 'more probably' the picture he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1834, no. 517, as 'A rustic scene'. Grigson dates the apparently unexhibited Scene at Underriver c. 1833-4, as does Lister. As for Landscape, Twilight, both Grigson and Lister prefer to identify it with the picture he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1834, but A.H. Palmer, after mentioning The Harvest Moon, as a work in 1833, goes on to compare it with Landscape, Twilight without committing himself to saying more than 'Both these pictures, like all of the same period ...'. One argument in favour of 1834 is that Palmer had six weeks in the exhibition for that year and only five in 1833 so that, if all his entries were accepted, 'No 6' would imply an entry in 1834.
The painting is based on an indian ink drawing in the Victoria and Albert Museum, see fig. 1, perhaps one of the group of such drawings apparently exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1832, no. 816, as 'Landscape - twilight' (Grigson, 1947, p.129, no. 128; Grigson, 1960, p. 31, no. 42, illustrated; Lister, 1988, p. 90, no. 163, illustrated); this was known previous to Grigson's identification, as 'Lanscape Sketch'. A later painting, possibly exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1835 as 'Scene from Lee, North Devon', is also known as 'Landscape - Twilight' (Lister, 1988, p. 103, no. 214, illustrated) but is a completely different composition.
A.H. Palmer sums up the effect of this picture, recording it as 'a picture of the same diminuitive size as The Harvest Moon, but one in which the 'condensing power of art' impresses the eye with a feeling of space and fullness ... The wild, gloomy sky I have already refered to as savouring of Linnell's influence [John Linnell, 1792-1882, Blake's friend and, from 1837, Palmer's father-in-law]. Both these pictures... are remarkable for their suggestiveness, calling forth our own more timid imagination, and leading it away to explore the recesses of a romantic county without allowing us to realise the fact that our explorations are really bounded by a little paint upon a wooden panel.'
The precise date of Landscape, Twilight is uncertain. The label on the back is almost certainly Palmer's 'sending-in' label for the Royal Academy's annual exhibition; similar labels appear on the backs of The Bright Cloud ('No 3'; Grigson, 1947, p. 188, no. 136, pl. 62; Lister, 1988, p. 91, no. 169, illustrated), Scene at Underriver ('No 4'; Grigson, 1947, p. 186, no. 131, pl. 2 in colour: Lister, 1988, p. 92, no. 170, illustrated) and The Harvest Moon ('No [5]'; Grigson, 1947, p. 186, no. 129; Lister, 1988, p.91, no. 168, illustrated) all have the Lisson Grove address, which Palmer used from 1832, despite still spending most of his time in Shoreham. Not all pictures sent in for exhibition were actually accepted, and sometimes a title would be changed: Scene at Underriver does not appear in any Royal Academy catalogue, nor in those of the British Institution where Palmer also exhibited from 1819 until 1853 (his Royal Academy exhibits date from 1819 until 1873). Works by Palmer entitled 'Landscape-twilight' were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1832, 1833 and 1834, though his seven exhibitions of 1832 seem to have been confined to pen and wash drawings in indian ink; a letter written by Palmer to his friend George Richmond in September of that year, apparently about his exhibits, speaks of 'my blacks' (see Grigson, 1947, p. 99). That leaves 1833 and 1834. Of the other works with sending-in labels The Harvest Moon was probably the picture he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1833, no. 64, the only exhibit to be so titled. Both Grigson and Lister suggest, for The Bright Cloud, either that it was the picture exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1833, as no. 356, 'Rustic scene', or as 'more probably' the picture he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1834, no. 517, as 'A rustic scene'. Grigson dates the apparently unexhibited Scene at Underriver c. 1833-4, as does Lister. As for Landscape, Twilight, both Grigson and Lister prefer to identify it with the picture he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1834, but A.H. Palmer, after mentioning The Harvest Moon, as a work in 1833, goes on to compare it with Landscape, Twilight without committing himself to saying more than 'Both these pictures, like all of the same period ...'. One argument in favour of 1834 is that Palmer had six weeks in the exhibition for that year and only five in 1833 so that, if all his entries were accepted, 'No 6' would imply an entry in 1834.
The painting is based on an indian ink drawing in the Victoria and Albert Museum, see fig. 1, perhaps one of the group of such drawings apparently exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1832, no. 816, as 'Landscape - twilight' (Grigson, 1947, p.129, no. 128; Grigson, 1960, p. 31, no. 42, illustrated; Lister, 1988, p. 90, no. 163, illustrated); this was known previous to Grigson's identification, as 'Lanscape Sketch'. A later painting, possibly exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1835 as 'Scene from Lee, North Devon', is also known as 'Landscape - Twilight' (Lister, 1988, p. 103, no. 214, illustrated) but is a completely different composition.
A.H. Palmer sums up the effect of this picture, recording it as 'a picture of the same diminuitive size as The Harvest Moon, but one in which the 'condensing power of art' impresses the eye with a feeling of space and fullness ... The wild, gloomy sky I have already refered to as savouring of Linnell's influence [John Linnell, 1792-1882, Blake's friend and, from 1837, Palmer's father-in-law]. Both these pictures... are remarkable for their suggestiveness, calling forth our own more timid imagination, and leading it away to explore the recesses of a romantic county without allowing us to realise the fact that our explorations are really bounded by a little paint upon a wooden panel.'