In common with many of Cox’s later works, it is painted on “Scotch” paper, a strong wrapping paper with a rough texture that was particularly suited to his style. Here, the artist has begun by sketching out the main forms of the branches and undergrowth in black crayon. Much of this vigorous drawing remains visible, adding to the overall sense of movement and vitality. Colour is applied in individual strokes of green, yellow, blue and brown. This technique, similar to the ‘broken’ brushwork later developed by the French Impressionists, is particularly effective in depicting the dappled pattern of light on the ground, rapidly changing as the trees sway in the wind.

Cox’s late style was often criticised. In 1848, one exhibition reviewer wrote: ‘David Cox is, we fear, falling too much into mannerism. His wonderfully bold touches attracted great attention, as a novelty in water-colour, and he has been tempted to extravagance. Many of his pictures here are not painted, but dabbed, – a mass of coloured blots, in which it is often quite difficult to discern the object intended to be represented.’ Others were more sympathetic. In 1851 the novelist William Makepiece Thackeray wondered: ‘where the secret is, and how, with strokes so rough… air and distance, storm and sunshine should be described so lucidly’.

Exhibited: Agnew’s, London, Exhibition of Watercolour Drawings by Turner, Cox and De Wint, 1924, no. 124; Sotheby’s, London, Watercolours from Winchester College, 1988, no. 12.

Provenance: Agnew’s, London, before 1924; gift of Harry Collison, 1940.