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PISTYLL MAWDDACH, NORTH WALES

measurements note
35.5 by 41 cm., 14 by 16 in.

signed on a separate sheet of paper attached l.l.: Pistil Mawddach North Wales/Samuel Palmer 1835

black chalk and watercolour heightened with white on light buff paper

PROVENANCE

The Hon. Mrs Arthur Davey;
Leonard Duke;
Sir Bruce Ingram

EXHIBITED

London, P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., Old Master Drawings from the Collection of Sir Bruce Ingram, January - February 1952, no.93;
London, P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., Watercolour Drawings of Three Centuries from the Collection of Sir Bruce Ingram, 1956, no.62;
London, P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., Loan Exhibition of English Drawings and Watercolours in Memory of the late D.C.T.Baskett, July - August 1963, no.60

LITERATURE

Derek Clifford, Collecting English Watercolours, 1970, no. 159;
Raymond Lister, Samuel Palmer: His Life and Art, 1987, p.71;
Raymond Lister, Catalogue Raisonne of the Works of Samuel Palmer, 1988, p.106, no.226

NOTE

Palmer's watercolour of the great Welsh waterfall, Pistyll Mawddach is 'amongst the finest of his post-Shoreham pictures' (Raymond Lister, Samuel Palmer - A Biography, 1974, p.94)

In 1835 Palmer undertook a sketching tour of North Wales with his friend and fellow artist, Edward Calvert. During this trip he visited Pistyll Mawddach near Pistyll Cain and was immediately taken by the magnificence of the waterfall and the beauty of the surrounding scenery. The present work was drawn on the spot and used as a study for a larger watercolour and an oil of this subject now in the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven and the Tate Britain respectively (see Raymond Lister, Catalogue Raisonee of the Works of Samuel Palmer, 1988, p.106, nos.227 & 228).

Raymond Lister suggests that Palmer's depiction of the cascade at Pistyll Mawddach is derived from the Picturesque tradition, as exemplified by Richard Wilson, James Ward and William Payne. Palmer was also influenced by the paintings of Claude Lorrain, as revealed by his detailed and highly naturalistic depiction of the trees, rocks and foliage in the present work. Throughout his life Palmer admired Claude and wrote of him to his client, L.R.Valpy: 'The last skill of imitation (of nature) is to know what should be omitted...I remember reading a critique questioning the truth of a peculiar mass of rock in one of Claude's pictures. I have seen none like it, but I did not measure Claude's knowledge by my own ignorance. In my next tour, I came upon the very thing and sketched it.' (Raymond Lister, ed., The Letters of Samuel Palmer, 2 vols, 1974, p.912).

Towards the end of his tour of North Wales Palmer seems to have parted company with Edward Calvert. By this stage he was very short of funds and he undertook the chore of picture cleaning in order to earn a living. So difficult were his circumstances that he was forced to beg the loan of a pound or two from his friend George Richmond, in order to return home. He wrote to him at the end of August, revealing that 'Poetic vapours have subsided and the sad realities of life blot the field of vision - the burthen of the theme is a heavy one I have not cash enough to carry me to London - O miserable poverty!' (Samuel Palmer to George Richmond, 19th August 1835, quoted by Raymond Lister, Samuel Palmer - A Biography, 1974, p.95). It seems likely that Richmond hastily responded to his plea as soon afterwards Palmer was back in London and working hard. It is interesting to note that the Hon.Mrs Arthur Davey who once owned this drawing was the granddaughter of George Richmond.

Watercolours such as Pistyll Mawddach are considered by Raymond Lister to be 'his most satisfying work during this period.' (Raymond Lister, Samuel Palmer: His Life and Art, 1987, p.5). Palmer's son later said that his father's Welsh watercolours contained his whole heart and in their naturalism and poetic mood 'he recaptures something of the Shoreham vision' (ibid)