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Study of a Barn

Maker


1769-1844

Title

Study of a Barn

Date of Production

1820s

Medium

graphite, watercolour

Accession Number

D.2023.ST.5

Mode of Acquisition

The Spooner Charitable Trust, gift, 2023

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Label Text

Robert Hills (1769-1844) trained at the Royal Academy from 1788 and specialised in rural subjects, particularly farm animals. A watercolourist and etcher, he was one of the six founding members of the Old Watercolour Society in 1804; he exhibited some 600 works there over the course of his career. His talent at rendering animals was such that he was known to draw animals in works by other artists, including George Barret the younger and George Fennell Robson.

On this well-preserved watercolour, Hills annotated in his shorthand the lower right corner and the roof of the barn; both inscriptions have yet to be deciphered. It is one of several drawings by Hills that represent barns; another example is in the Tate’s collection (N04323), while a drawing in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge (inv. 1369) bears a similar shorthand inscription.

Provenance

Guy Peppiatt; where purchased by the Spooner Trust; Gift of the Spooner Trust, 2023

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