ticketsMember | Make a donation

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

1776
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A mother and children resting beneath a large beech tree, deer grazing beyond, possibly in Norbury Park, Surrey
  • Artist: George Barret, the elder (Irish, Dublin 1728/32–1784 Paddington, London)
  • Date: 1776
  • Medium: Graphite and gouache (bodycolor) with gum arabic
  • Dimensions: sheet: 19 5/16 x 20 1/4 in. (49 x 51.5 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Guy Wildenstein Gift, 2012
  • Object Number: 2012.46
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland, Thomas Girtin British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache)
Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland
Thomas Girtin
1796–97
The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons, Jacques Louis David French, Black chalk, pen and black and brown ink, brush and gray and brown wash, heightened with white gouache
The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons
Jacques Louis David
1787
Dune Landscape with Oak Tree, Jacob van Ruisdael Dutch, Black chalk, brush and gray wash, and gouache; framing lines in pen and brown ink
Dune Landscape with Oak Tree
Jacob van Ruisdael
1650–55
Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints, Gideon Saint British, Pen and ink, engraving and etching
Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints
Gideon Saint
ca. 1760
Design for a Wall Panel or Ceiling with The Virgin and Saints Interceding before Christ for the Souls of the Lost, Johann Baptist Enderle German, Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache on laid paper
Design for a Wall Panel or Ceiling with The Virgin and Saints Interceding before Christ for the Souls of the Lost
Johann Baptist Enderle
1771 or before

Related Content

Perspectives

Articles, audio, and video from The Met's online magazine.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.