Luton Park, Bedfordshire

1760s

Paul Sandby

(British, 1731–1809)

Culture

England, 18th century

Medium

watercolor over pencil, heightened with bodycolor and pen and gray ink on laid paper

Measurements

Matted: 49.1 x 104.9 cm (19 5/16 x 41 5/16 in.); Sheet: 45.1 x 100.6 cm (17 3/4 x 39 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2022.94

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The Earl of Bute, owner of the estate depicted in this watercolor, was the favorite minister of King George III of England.

Description

Paul Sandby’s Luton Park, Bedfordshire, belongs to a set of twelve views commissioned by John, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713–1792) in the mid-1760s. After a period of public life, Bute retreated to the country, purchasing Luton Park north of London, and commissioning Paul Sandby to make watercolors recording the estate’s buildings and grounds. In Sandby’s subtle but luminous style, the present drawing depicts the fields outside the estate’s Palladian-style gatehouse, which appears on the right, nestled among trees. Wheat fields and trees populate the distant vista, and, in the center, one sees a view of the Luton castle. The work stayed together with all twelve of Sandby’s drawings in an album at Luton Park until it was discovered in 1996.