Gallery
Sir Charles John Holmes (1868 - 1936)
A Moorland Road, 1923
A Moorland Road is simply painted and composed, reflecting the bleak expanses of moorland in the North of England. The basic composition of one-third sky to two-thirds land creates a sense of stillness, quiet and calm and also emphasises the vastness of the moorland. The painting is realistic but shows the influence of Impressionism in the visible brushstrokes and depiction of light. The buildings and paths lead the eye towards the cloud formations in the distance and the farthest building is emphasised particularly, having been set against an area of deep shadow created not by black, but by deep blue and mauve.
Sir Charles John Holmes
Sir Charles Holmes was a painter and etcher, but mainly painted landscapes and industrial scenes of the North of England. He was once the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London (1909 - 16) and the National Gallery, London (1916 - 28). Holmes was also a member of the New English Art Club, an organisation that exhibited works by British artists who had been rejected by the prestigious Royal Academy.
Activities, discussions and questions
» Compare this painting to the one by Boudin and other Impressionist
works. Can you see how the Impressionists might have influenced Holmes?
»Why do you think there are no people in the painting?
» What kind of atmosphere does the painting evoke?
» If you could see beyond the horizon, what do you think you
would see?
Sir Charles John Holmes (1868 - 1936)
A Moorland Road, 1923
Material: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 82.5 cm x 47.5 cm
Place made: England
Accession No: B.M.972
NACF acquired piece, presented in memory of the artist in 1937
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