William G. SimmondsThe Seeds of Love 1906

N02139 THE SEEDS OF LOVE 1906

Inscr. ‘W.G.Simmonds/1906’ b.l.
Watercolour, 23 3/4×18 3/4 (59×46·5).
Chantrey Purchase from the artist 1907.
Exh: R.A., 1907 (966).

In a letter to the compiler (7 August 1958) the artist explained that the subject was suggested to him by ‘the beauty of the delicate green trunks and branches of the beech trees against the blue sky and the rich Gloucestershire earth. The trees, figures, grass and earth were painted directly into the picture, from nature, at Fairford, but the sheep and lambs, also directly, from a flock in the Eton College playing fields.’

Published in:
Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, London 1964, II