Description
Sidney Richard Percy (London 1822 – Bedfordshire 1886) – River Landscape with Swallows in Flight.
Oil on canvas, in a gilded wooden frame.
Signed lower left: “Percy.”
Sidney Richard Percy, born Williams, was one of the leading British landscape painters of the 19th century and a member of a family of artists active within the English Romantic landscape school. His work focuses on depicting the English countryside and rivers, with particular attention to the atmospheric rendering of light and vegetation. The painting depicts a river bend surrounded by summer greenery. In the foreground, on the right bank, a rock protrudes from among the grass and flowering bushes, next to a tall tree with dense foliage. The river’s water extends toward the background, where the opposite bank fades into a wooded strip. The sky, streaked with white clouds, is enlivened by a few swallows in flight. The brushwork is loose in the vegetation and more meticulous in rendering the water’s reflections, in keeping with the artist’s usual style.
Condition report: Original canvas. The painted surface is in good condition.
