Spring

1888–90

Not on view

Like his fellow "Idyllists" Frederick Walker and George Pinwell, John William North's early training as an illustrator taught him to render ideas and emotions in evocative landscapes of dreamlike beauty. Here, the artist presents an exquisitely balanced composition: a pensive young woman stands immobilized within a verdant landscape in which only the trees, entangled by pale blossoms, pierce the stillness. Delicately detailed vegetation, close at hand, is contrasted with hazy, less-defined, distant passages. Precise, separate touches of watercolor and gouache stipple the surface of the picture, creating a shimmering effect that enhances the poetic mood. North later wrote in A Theory of Art (published in 1902) that he sought to present the "countless fairy tales told in trees and hills and streams and skies."

Artwork Details

Title: Spring
Artist: John William North (British, London 1842–1924 Stamborough, Somerset)
Date: 1888–90
Medium: Watercolor with touches of gouache (bodycolor) over graphite
Dimensions: Sheet: 11 3/4 in. × 17 in. (29.9 × 43.2 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Sotheby's Gift and funds from various donors, 2000
Object Number: 2000.341
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By John William North

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Autumn Thoughts (in "Good Words for 1863," p. 743)

John William North

Dalziel Brothers

1863

On the Shore, from "Picture Poesies", John William North British, Wood engraving — On the Shore, from "Picture Poesies"
Multiple artists/makers
first published 1867, reissued 1874

Peace, from "Picture Poesies", John William North British, Wood engraving — Peace, from "Picture Poesies"
Multiple artists/makers
first published 1867, reissued 1874

The Home Pond (from A Round of Days), John William North British, Wood engraving — The Home Pond (from A Round of Days)
Multiple artists/makers
1866

Glen Oona (from A Round of Days), John William North British, Wood engraving — Glen Oona (from A Round of Days)
Multiple artists/makers
1866

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