Attributed to Samuel Palmer (1805–1881), Attributed to - Near Naples

Samuel Palmer
1805 - 1881

Near Naples - Bird's nest with clutch

Monogrammed and dated 1838 on the right edge, signed, dated, and marked 'Near Naples' on the back.

23 x 33.5 cm, in passepartout

Samuel Palmer was a significant figure of 19th-century English Romanticism. From the age of twelve, he painted churches and at fourteen, he exhibited works inspired by Turner for the first time at the Royal Academy.

Through John Linnell, Palmer met William Blake in 1824. Blake's influence is evident in his works over the following ten years. These works are landscapes near Shoreham, close to Sevenoaks in the west of Kent. He interacted with a group of Blake-influenced artists known as the Ancients (including George Richmond and Edward Calvert). They were among the few who saw the Shoreham paintings, as he only made his early portfolios accessible to select friends in 1825 due to attacks from critics.

In 1835, Palmer returned to London. One reason for this was to sell his works and earn money through private lessons. By then, he was married to Hannah, the daughter of the painter John Linnell, whom he had known since childhood. Palmer increasingly focused on watercolor painting, which was becoming more popular in England. To advance his commercial career, the couple undertook a two-year honeymoon trip to Italy in 1837, made possible by money from Hannah's parents. In Italy, Palmer's palette became more colorful, sometimes almost vivid, and he created many beautiful sketches and studies.

This work offered here dates exactly from this period and is an excellent example of the high art of Palmers watercolor painting.

From the early 1860s, Palmer achieved some success with his later landscape paintings, which resembled Shoreham's early works, among critics. His best late works include a series of large watercolors illustrating Milton's poems 'L'Allegro' and 'Il Penseroso,' as well as his etchings, a medium he worked with from 1850 onward, including a series of illustrations for Vergil.

Palmer's later years were overshadowed by the death of his eldest son, Thomas More Palmer, in 1861, when he was only 19 years old—a severe blow from which he never fully recovered. Palmer died on May 24, 1881, in Redhill, Surrey.

On the occasion of his bicentennial birthday, the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art organized a major retrospective featuring 170 of his watercolors, drawings, etchings, and oil paintings from public and private collections worldwide. 'Samuel Palmer: Vision and Landscape.' The exhibition was held from October 2005 to January 2006 in London, and then from March to May 2006 in New York. It focused on his early work but also included more naturalistic watercolors such as 'Scene from Lee' and 'A Cascade in Shadow' from his travels through Devon and Wales (1834–1836), as well as 'Cypresses at Villa d'Este' and 'A View of Ancient Rome' from his two-year stay in Italy from 1837 to 1839.

In 2012, the Fine Art Society in London hosted the exhibition 'Samuel Palmer, His Friends and Followers,' which showcased Palmer's influential visionary landscapes as well as works by Edward Calvert, George Richmond, Frederick Griggs, Paul Drury, Graham Sutherland, and Robin Tanner.

This watercolor offered here comes from the estate of a German collector in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria.

The shipment will be sent, well packed and insured, with tracking via Correos España.