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Samuel Palmer

A Woodland Study

c. 1856
Brush and black and brown washes, with white gouache and scraping, ruled in graphite, on ivory paperboard
22.5 × 17.2 cm (8.9 × 6.8 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

An English Romantic painter who was best known for his visionary landscapes, Palmer may have created this monochromatic watercolor as a preparatory study for a print. It can be related to 13 delicate etchings made by the artist in the early 1850s. The watercolor was created with graphite underdrawing, over which several brown and black washes were laid down and then heightened by opaque white paint. To emphasize the contrast between light and dark, Palmer scraped pigment off the drawing as the final phase in this considered and complex artistic process.

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