tour 6 of 18
Samuel Palmer
Palmer at Shoreham
'The Valley of
Vision.'
Palmer
on Shoreham, letter to George Richmond,
1827
Between 1826 and 1835,
Palmer lived in the village of Shoreham in north-west Kent. He
later looked back on this as the happiest and most creative period
of his life, and it was here that his art was at its most powerful
and original.
At first
Palmer stayed in lodgings, but in 1828 his father, who had given up
his Bloomsbury bookshop, rented part of Water House. This was a
fine large building near the bridge at Shoreham, and Palmer joined
him there. The artist had been left money by his grandfather so
during his early years in Shoreham he did not have to worry about
earning a living. He aimed to become a painter of religious
landscapes, but also developed a vivid form of monochrome
composition which allowed him to make intensive studies of
nature.
While at Shoreham,
Palmer was frequently visited by members of 'the
Ancients' - a close-knit artistic group that had formed
around him in about 1824. These artists rejected modern society in
order to resurrect the spiritual values of earlier times. They were
probably inspired by a German group, the Nazarenes, and the
principal members included Edward Calvert, George Richmond and
Henry Walter. Membership of the group led to each artist producing
his most memorable
work.
Palmer painted his
greatest and most poetic pastoral scenes during his last five years
at Shoreham, including The Magic Apple
Tree and The Sleeping
Shepherd. However, although he exhibited
regularly at the Royal Academy in London, he achieved no critical
success. During the early 1830s, life at Shoreham began to lose its
appeal. Most of the Ancients visited less, and Palmer's
funds ran low. He also grew disillusioned with the poor conditions
and poverty endured by farm labourers in the countryside. He
returned to London around 1835.