25. Samuel Palmer
(1805-1881)
The Morning of Life

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Palmer, The Morning of Life

The Morning of Life

Etching, 1860-61, Lister 10 vii/vii, as published in Etchings for the Art Union of London by the Etching Club, 1872 (the plate was destroyed after this edition), 145 x 208 mm. Fine impression on chine-appliqué with large margins; a line of discoloration on the support sheet marking the old mat opening. Unlike many of the images in this exhibition, the last thing one would ask about an etching by Palmer is where, precisely, is the scene. Palmer’s idealized pastoral landscapes do not exist in this world, but are glimpses of an Eden in which every weed, not to mention every tree, is a thing of beauty, artistically captured at the moment of its perfection and under the most ideal lighting conditions. Nature is, perhaps, never so purely poetic as when seen through Palmer’s eyes.