John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893)

Although undated, the present picture, with its vivid palette and minutely observed detail, has all the characteristics of the artist's Pre-Raphaelite inspired landscapes of the 1860s. It has many similarities to his masterpiece of this period Autumn Glory: The Old Mill (Leeds City Art Gallery). Both pictures set a gabled Tudor building in a wooded glade, but the present work has a more romantic atmosphere with an untended walled garden gently dissolving into the landscape that surrounds it. Both works are rich in detail, particularly in the depiction of every leaf and blade of grass. The time spent in recording such detail may explain the scarcity of works painted at this time.