The Loveliest of Lands and Samuel Palmer (Exeter Branch)

A talk by Professor Sam Smiles.

In the third of his talks given to Exeter Branch (1, 2) Professor Smiles now turns his attention to the work of Samuel Palmer (1805–1881). Although less known to the general public, Palmer was a defining figure in British Romanticism, celebrated for visionary rural scenes. He was born in Newington, London, and showed early artistic promise under minimal formal training, exhibiting at the Royal Academy as early as 1819. In the late 1920s, he joined the artistic group known as the Ancients, who were deeply influenced by William Blake, and produced his most mystical works during his residence in Shoreham, Kent, from 1826 to 1833.

After the ecstatic response to nature characteristic of his early works at Shoreham, he developed a less visionary style, one that reconciled naturalism and idealism in landscape painting. Devon provided him with sketching grounds where he might pursue this new direction. Indeed, he once declared that the county had a richness beyond even Italian scenery. Between 1834 and 1859 Palmer made at least four trips to what he described in one of his letters as ‘dear spongy Devon,’ working chiefly on the north coast and on the southern fringes of Dartmoor. In this talk we will look at Palmer’s responses to the county, from topographically identifiable scenes to visions of pastoral ideals distilled from his experiences in this region.

The entrance fee, including tea and biscuits, is £3 per person for DA members and £5 for non-members.