2006/65

Andrew Davidson (Artist)

Watercolour painting of a fictional rural landscape, by Andrew Davidson, Stroud, Glos, 2005, commissioned by MERL.
This is a watercolour painting of a fictional rural landscape. It was painted by Andrew Davidson, of Stroud, Gloucestershire, in 2005, commissioned by the Museum of English Rural Life for a mural in the new museum gallery in 2005/6. The painting represents a scene c.1850 on the right, moving towards a scene c. 1950 on the left. It features changes in the landscape, machinery and workforce.

painting: in wooden frame; glazed; good condition

MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Museum of English Rural Life) – 'Portrait of a fictional landscape that moves from c.1850 on the right hand side to c.1950 on the left. // Original artwork for a mural created for the new MERL gallery in 2005/6. // Dimensions // Frame: 227cm x 82.5cm x 4cm', Miscellaneous note - 'Museum Mural // I suggest we work to the dates 1856 and 1956 - given that the mural will be completed in 2006 - to assist with matters of detail. This will help eg to define the style of the railway train on one side and dictate that on the other it is not a motorway in the distance but a busy trunk road. // We can work more detail into the two sides of the farmstead at the centre of the picture. On the Victorian side, there should be a big barn and a livestock yard, with manure heap in the middle. On the 20th century side, there should be a grain dryer, storage bins for bulk grain, dutch barns and a mechanised milking parlour etc. (we can provide visual refs for all of these) // We need to emphasise the human activity on the Victorian side. The harvest field or fields could be larger with lots more workers out there (including women and children) and laden horse drawn wagons taking material back to the farmstead, where it can be built into large stacks. // The corn being harvested by the combine should be quite a lot shorter in height than that on the Victorian side. // Maximise contrast of larger fields, fewer people on the 1950s side. // I would suggest hedgelaying, rather than drystone walling on the Victorian side. Lots of neat hedges on the Victorian side; less hedges, some wire fencing on the 1950s side. // Electricity pylons are a strong indicator of the twentieth century landscape. Also, lines of telegraph poles and wires along the roads/lanes - something that people forget about now. Maybe also a TV transmitter on the skyline. // Plane in the sky on the 1950s side. // 1856 is too early for milk churns in the cart. Could easily be replaced by a market cart. Flock of sheep being driven down the lane might be considered. // Suggest coppicing rather than tree felling in the 1850s distance. // If the 1950s is a summer/autumn scene, then (grass) silage making would not be appropriate in the distane. This could perhaps be another combine instead, or a tractor and straw baler.'

Stroud

2006-08-03 - 2006-08-03

Davidson, Andrew (Artist)