A Bedfordshire Farmyard c. 19th century
alfredparsons
minneapolisinstituteofart
drawing
drawing
aged paper
yellowing background
photo restoration
natural tone
green background
england
greenery
watercolour illustration
botanical art
watercolor
warm toned green
"A Bedfordshire Farmyard" is a watercolor painting by Alfred Parsons, a renowned English artist known for his depictions of landscapes and natural scenes. The work, which dates back to the 19th century, showcases a quintessential English farmyard with its rustic barn, rolling hills, and verdant fields. Parsons's meticulous brushstrokes and delicate washes of color capture the tranquility and beauty of the rural setting, inviting viewers to imagine a peaceful life in the countryside. The painting's peaceful subject matter and serene palette reflect the popular artistic trends of the period, particularly the appreciation for nature and the simple pleasures of rural life.
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As a painter, prolific illustrator for Harper’s Magazine and books by popular English authors, also as a designer of gardens in Britain and America, Alfred Parsons played a role in catering to and shaping his American contemporaries’ concept of “Englishness.” In 1879, American author Henry James wrote, “Was it [in America] that Mr. Parsons learned so well how Americans would like England to appear'...The England of his pencil... is exactly the England that the American imagination, restricted to itself, constructs from the poets, the novelists, from all the delightful testimony it inherits." Bedfordshire, about 50 miles north-northwest of London, is a picturesque area of rolling farmland dotted by towns. In Parsons’ time, it would have been seen as accessible yet unspoiled by modern life.
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