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Samuel Palmer (1805–1881)
Oak Tree and Beech, Lullingstone Park
Pencil, pen and brown ink, and watercolor, heightened with gouache, and gum arabic, on gray paper
Signed in pencil at lower left, S Palmer fec[t superscript]
11 5/8 x 18 7/16 in. (296 x 468 mm)
Thaw Collection, The Morgan Library & Museum; 2006.53
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After meeting William Blake, who became a friend and mentor, in 1824, Palmer developed a form of Romantic landscape combining naturalist observation with a visionary style. This drawing depicts a view in Lullingstone Park, near the village of Shoreham in Kent. The artist focused on the giant oak in the foreground, suggesting the texture of its bark with a brilliant skein of dots, circles, and tiny scribbles. He conveyed light through an innovative application of yellow watercolor over white gouache, to which he applied gum arabic, imparting shine, and occasional dots of red watercolor.

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