Clearing with a Lumber Mill

John Middleton

1847 (?) · Watercolor over graphite · Drawings and Prints

Middleton belonged to the Norwich School, a loose association of artists with a regional identity led at the outset by John Crome (1768–1821) and John Sell Cotman (1782–1842). A member of the next generation, Middleton painted fine, expressive watercolors before succumbing to consumption at age of twenty-nine. The loose brushwork of "Clearing with a Lumber Mill" is charactertistic of the artist's early work, and the subject suggests a date of 1847. In that year Middleton stayed in London to exhibit at the Royal Academy and British Institution for the first time, then toured Kent with Henry Bright (1810-1873), his teacher and a fellow Norwich artist. At this time he made dated drawings of a lumber yard similar to this one near Tunbridge Wells.

Artist

John Middleton

Date

1847 (?)

Medium

Watercolor over graphite

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Roberta J. M. Olson and Alexander B. V. Johnson, 2014