Samuel Palmer 1805-1881

Palmer's watercolour of Rustics with Sheep and Goats in a Rocky Landscape can be dated to 1844.  During the same year he made three other versions of this watercolour depicting women and children with goats or cattle on a rocky upland (see Raymond Lister, Catalogue Raisonee of the Works of Samuel Palmer, 1988, p.143, nos.386-388).   In particular, the present work compares with his Herd of Goats (ibid., no.388).  The landscapes in both watercolours are virtually the same and  include a rocky foreground and middle distance, a waterfall cascading down a wooded hill on the left and an expansive vista punctuated by the peaks of distant mountains.  They differ, however, in their arrangement of goats and figures and the fact that Herd of Goats includes a tree in full leaf which dominates the right side of the composition. 

Although Palmer's landscapes were very rarely topographical, Raymond Lister has suggested that the rocky details and distant hills in watercolours such as the present work are recollections of Welsh scenery.  The present work, however, depicts more than a simple recollection of a familiar landscape.  By adding details such as the shepherdesses and the goats he creates a classical arcadia, most likely influenced by his trip to Italy in the late 1830's.  Italy and its art had a great effect on Palmer and his work, as he wrote in September 1839 'I am wholly absorbed in art and so imbued with love for the landscape of Giorgione and Titian that I can never paint in my old style again'  (see Raymond Lister, Samuel Palmer - A Biography, 1974, p.156).