Artwork Page for The Golden Hour

Details / Information for The Golden Hour

The Golden Hour

1865

Samuel Palmer

(British, 1805–1881)
Culture
England, 19th century
Medium
watercolor and gouache with graphite and scraping
Measurements
Sheet: 25.6 x 35.4 cm (10 1/16 x 13 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2009.3
Catalogue raisonné
Lister 646
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

Around the time this watercolor was made, Samuel Palmer began to focus primarily on naturalistic landscapes that he hoped would be commercially successful in order to contend with the practical responsibilities of married life and family.

Description

Samuel Palmer developed a personal and emotionally charged style of landscape painting that celebrated nature as the product of divine creation. This watercolor of a spectacularly colorful sunset over the hills of Surrey was painted by Palmer toward the end of his life. An autumn sky heavy with rows of cumulus clouds shimmers in a pattern of pink and amethyst, as slivers of golden light emanate from the setting sun. The idyllic landscape is an elegy not only to a passing day, but to the brevity of life itself.
A horizontally oriented watercolor and gouache painting depicts a landscape beneath a sky with horizontal bands of pink and purple. In the foreground, cattle stand in a reflective stream. To the left, a stone bridge and dark watermill sit beneath dense trees with golden foliage. To the right, a tall, spindly tree frames the view. Scraped highlights and textured strokes create a shimmering surface as the low sun glows behind the central trees.

The Golden Hour

1865

Samuel Palmer

(British, 1805–1881)
England, 19th century

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