2-871-264 - Shirley Markham Collection/Heritage Images

Country Scene in Cumberland, 1805. 'This scene with rustic cottage perched high in difficult and interesting terrain finds Rowlandson in a strongly masculine mood. The forms are boldy modeled and less controlled than in most of his landscapes. He penetrates this subject with warmth and life through a scheme of short rounded lines, with a bigness of coloration which captures nature at a moment when she is at her best. Strong light casting strong transparent shadows animates the scene, while the aptly placed figures add charm, interest, and scale. This is a veritable symphony in neutral warm and cool tones of broken color which runs the gamut of the spectrum'. From "The Watercolour Drawings of Thomas Rowlandson" with commentary by Arthur W. Heintzelman. [Watson-Guptill Publications, Inc., New York, 1947]