Landscape with Cattle

Benjamin Barker of Bath (1776–1838) Landscape with cattle Oil on canvas An exceptional and very large statement painting by a well known and reputable and collected artist. Signed and dated 1810 178 x 266 cm / 203 x 297 cm framed This painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1810. Sketches to this painting are held in the V&A and tie up with sketches by Gainsborough of a similar composition. Benjamin Barker, the younger brother of Thomas Barker, worked in Bath after the family settled there in 1783. He showed in the Royal Academy, the British Institution and the Society of Watercolorists between 1800 and 1831. Many of his watercolours are in the Museum of South Kensington, and Theodore Fielding has reproduced many of his watercolours in aquatint in his 1824 volume ‘English Landscape Scenery. At the height of his success, Barker was incorporated into many important collections, and hung alongside the likes of Wilson, Gainsborough and Turner. Benjamin West regarded him as a better, more poetic painter than his brother. His watercolors are soft in color and he makes a great use of umber. His pupils included H.V. Lansdowne.