Black and white chalk, gray wash and black wash on medium, slightly textured, antique buff wove paper prepared with gray
Dimensions:
Sheet: 9 3/4 x 13 inches (24.8 x 33 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.4713
Gallery Label:
This is a preparatory drawing for an aquatint, although the only prints to survive from it were made by John Boydell (1720-1804) in 1797, well after Gainsborough's death. Here Gainsborough has allowed the buff-colored paper to act as his midtone then added white chalk and gouache for highlight, and charcoal and dark washes of ink for shadow. Although the surface is characteristically marked with a great richness and variety of textures, the strong tonal contrast between the blackness of the trees and the whiteness of the clouds indicates that it was designed with engraving in mind since it is ideally suited to reproduction as a black-and-white print. Gallery label for Connections (Yale Center for British Art, 2011-05-26 - 2011-09-11)
