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The Rural England of A.R. Quinton: Bygone Scenes from the Brush of a Country Artist
Paperback
112 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1990
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February 14, 2017
I was unfamiliar with Quinton, a late 1800's-early 1900's English painter until I fell in love with a needlework kit of one of his paintings. Curious, I Googled him and that opened up a world of lovely work to me. This is a smallish picture book, but nicely printed, with a bio at the beginning. I like it so much I have ordered its companion, "The Cottages and Countryside of England from the Paintings of A.R. Quinton".
On first glance, one might be inclined to dismiss his work as just sentimental, decorative paintings, but a closer look reveals quite a smart painter, adept at setting mood through light quality, color choices, and atmospheric perspective, and skilled at rendering details. Much of his work was produced for the J. Salmon company, which sold postcards. That most of those works include human figures is down his having been paid more to include them; such works tended to sell better. Salmon had tried selling photographic postcards, but people found the black and white images to be too cold and sterile, and they didn't sell well. On seeing what Quinton could do, he hired him. Quinton was very prolific, producing over 2000 paintings, mostly watercolors, bicycling with his family around the countryside in summer, then creating works in his studio from the studies and photos he had made. He wanted to preserve the beauty and character of quaint country villages and ordinary folks' lives in case such places and ways were swept away by progress. What he left us is a collection of serene, rewarding images, a visual antidote to stress and cultural noise.
These books appear to have never been printed in the US, and are out of print now, but can easily be found used for very reasonable prices.
On first glance, one might be inclined to dismiss his work as just sentimental, decorative paintings, but a closer look reveals quite a smart painter, adept at setting mood through light quality, color choices, and atmospheric perspective, and skilled at rendering details. Much of his work was produced for the J. Salmon company, which sold postcards. That most of those works include human figures is down his having been paid more to include them; such works tended to sell better. Salmon had tried selling photographic postcards, but people found the black and white images to be too cold and sterile, and they didn't sell well. On seeing what Quinton could do, he hired him. Quinton was very prolific, producing over 2000 paintings, mostly watercolors, bicycling with his family around the countryside in summer, then creating works in his studio from the studies and photos he had made. He wanted to preserve the beauty and character of quaint country villages and ordinary folks' lives in case such places and ways were swept away by progress. What he left us is a collection of serene, rewarding images, a visual antidote to stress and cultural noise.
These books appear to have never been printed in the US, and are out of print now, but can easily be found used for very reasonable prices.
Displaying 1 of 1 review