Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) [Aw250]
OUT HUNTING
Pen and brown ink and watercolour (H. 23cm, W. 35cm)
Fox hunting became a popular pastime in eighteenth-century England and was a favourite subject for Thomas Rowlandson, whose work often poked fun at the lives of the upper classes. In this scene a group of riders are shown struggling to control their mounts as they make their way down a steep slope, in pursuit of a pack of hounds in the distance. Three figures in the foreground are tying sheaves and loading them onto a cart. Their dog and horse turn to look at the hunt, but the workers themselves seem oblivious to the spectacle unfolding in front of them. The composition is similar to Rowlandson’s aquatint The Chase (1787), the second in a series of six prints showing different stages of a fox hunt.
As a young man, Rowlandson intended to pursue a career as a painter or sculptor in the academic tradition, but after squandering an inherited fortune he turned to illustration to earn a living. He drew inspiration from the works of Hogarth, and sometimes emulated the grotesque satirical etchings of his friend James Gillray. More often, however, Rowlandson preferred a gentler form of caricature in his portrayals of contemporary English life.
While Rowlandson’s style may at first appear simplified and almost cartoon-like, it was grounded in an extensive formal training and a deep appreciation of classical and Renaissance art. He studied at the Royal Academy Schools and spent several years in Paris, where he enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts. This watercolour shows Rowlandson’s understanding of anatomy and his skill in representing bodies in motion. The treatment of the farm workers reveals Rowlandson’s debt to Dutch genre painting of the seventeenth century, and is also reminiscent of Gainsborough’s depictions of peasants.
Exhibited: Sotheby’s, London, Watercolours from Winchester College, 1988, no. 4
Provenance: Gift of Harry Collison, 1940.