Landscape with Figure in Foreground England, 19th century

Landscape with Figure in Foreground

c. 1840

Cornelius Varley

(British, 1781–1873)

England, 19th century

brown ink and brown wash with graphite

Support: Wove paper with watermark

Sheet: 49.1 x 38.1 cm (19 5/16 x 15 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 2004.40

Location: not on view

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Description

Primarily self-taught, Varley played a significant role in the development of open-air drawing practice in 19thcentury England. He relished the opportunity to engage directly with natural phenomena and made numerous sketches of the English landscape. Raised by his uncle who was a watchmaker, Varley combined his artistic interests with his exposure to science, and in 1809 invented a "graphic telescope," a drawing instrument loosely derived from the camera obscura. Varley’s drawings were more than mere transcriptions of nature, however. This drawing illustrates a stanza of Samuel Roger’s popular poem "The Pleasures of Memory": The adventuring boy that asks his little share And hies from home, with many a gossip’s prayer Turns on a neighboring hill once more to see The dear abode of peace and privacy; And as he turns, the thatch among the trees The smoke’s blue wreaths, ascending from the breeze, The Village Common scattered with white sheep All rouse reflection’s sadly pleasing train And oft he looks, and weeps, and looks again.