Samuel Palmer

Samuel Palmer (born Newington, London, January 27 1805 - died Redhill, Surrey, May 24 1881) was an English landscape painter, etcher and printmaker. He was also a prolific writer. Palmer was a key figure in English Romanticism and produced visionary pastoral paintings.

The Shoreham years

Through John Linnell, he met William Blake in 1824. Blake's influence can be seen in the works he produced over the next ten years or so, which are generally reckoned to be his greatest. These works were of landscapes around Shoreham, near Sevenoaks in the north of the county of Kent. He purchased a run-down cottage and,with his father, rented half of Water House, which still stands by the river, and it was there that he lived from 1826 to 1835, depicting the area as a demi-paradise, mysterious and visionary, and often shown in sepia shades under moon and star light. There Palmer also associated with the group of Blake-influenced artists known as The Ancients (including George Richmond and Edward Calvert). They were among the few who ever saw the Shoreham paintings since, as a result of attacks by critics in 1825, he only ever opened those early portfolios to selected friends.

Related Topics:
John Linnell - William Blake - 1824 - Shoreham - Kent - 1826 - 1835 - The Ancients - George Richmond - Edward Calvert - 1825

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~