Thomas Shotter Boys 1803-1874

C. J. Knight;
Mrs A. Park, her sale in these Rooms, 18 June 1970, lot 174;
Anonymous sale, Christie's, 14 July 1987, Lot 210 (sold for £13,000)

Nottingham University Art Gallery and Thos. Agnew and Sons, Ltd. London, Thomas Shotter Boys, Centenary Exhibition, 1974, no. 12

E. W. Cooke, the son of Thomas Shotter Boys' art master, George Cooke, wrote in his diary after a visit to Greenwich with Boys on 17th September 1829: 'T. Boys came to me at Hawkins and we went together by stage to City. Had a most delightful row to Greenwich - T. Boys sketched in the Park after which we took a boat'.

Although Boys was living in Paris by the date the present watercolour was drawn, he often returned to London and visited Greenwich on a number of occasions.  His view of Greenwich Hospital from the Park clearly shows the influence of Bonington and, in the words of James Roundell, shows 'Boys's mastery of foliage. The trees are mostly seen in terms of of mass rather than lines; however, he indicates the foliage by quickly sketched branches to give texture to the washes and scratches out the colour to let the paper show through. This creates the feeling of aliveness and freedom which is the keynote of these scenes. The total effect of this treatment, together with the range of cool greens and beige-oranges, gives an English flavour to the pictures, which is distinct from the mood of his French watercolours' (op. cit., p. 34).