A mother and children resting beneath a large beech tree, deer grazing beyond, possibly in Norbury Park, Surrey

George Barret, the elder Irish

Not on view

Born and trained in Dublin, Barret was encouraged by the politician and aesthetic theorist Edmund Burke to explore and represent the wild scenery of the Dargle Valley. Shortly after moving to England, the artist was hired in 1766, by William Lock, to decorate his new dining room at Norbury Park, Surrey–a project he carried out in company with Giovanni Battista Cipriani and Benedetto Pastorini. This impressive sheet was made independently of that project, but likely represents the grounds at Norbury. Centered on a clump of mature beech trees, the carefully observed trunks and foliage justify Joseph Pott's comment in "Essay on Landscape Painting" (1782) that “Every tree [Barret] paints is distinctly characterized.” The work demonstrates why the artist is regarded as an one of the first in Britain to engage with the concerns of romantic landscape.

A mother and children resting beneath a large beech tree, deer grazing beyond, possibly in Norbury Park, Surrey, George Barret, the elder (Irish, Dublin 1728/32–1784 Paddington, London), Graphite and gouache (bodycolor) with gum arabic

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