Barden Towers, Wharfedale, Yorkshire. Cecil Gordon Lawson (1849-1882). Oil on Canvas 11 x 15 inches (27.9 x 38.2 cm). Courtesy of the Fine Art Society. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
One of Lawson's later works, Barden Towers, Wharfedale, Yorkshire is among the Yorkshire scenes that he painted for Henry Mason, a Bradford manufacturer in the textile trade, and an avid collector. Robert Edmund Graves writes: "Wharfedale and In the Valley of Desolation, a view near Bolton, were exhibited in the Grosvenor Gallery in 1881, while Barden Moor together with The Pool appeared at the Royal Academy" (289). Barden Tower is a Grade I listed ruined hunting lodge in North Yorkshire, dating from the sixteenth century, one of several in the area. Historic England describes it as "A late medieval tower house of Lord Clifford, 'the shepherd Lord'; of interest as a small fortification with domestic amenities. Also a scheduled ancient monument." The ruins in the picturesque dales were popular with artists, and indeed the Tate has Turner's sketches of the scene for his finished work entitled, The River Wharfe with a distant view of Barden Tower. Another well-known artist who painted there was Atkinson Grimshaw. Lawson's scene is typically dark and atmospheric, the river and ruined building depicted under rolling clouds, with a solitary fisherman in the mid-ground near the right. The dramatic clouds, banks of trees, and boulders are all typical of Lawson's work: "At the age of twelve he used to spend whole days at Hampstead, making sketches in oil of the forms of clouds, foliage of trees, and various wayside objects," wrote Graves (289). But there is enough blue sky for it to be reflected in the pooled water in the foreground. Lacking close detail, this is one of the more impressionistic of Lawson's works. It was tragic that he died so young. — Jacqueline Banerjee
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Bibliography
"Barden Tower." Historic England. Web. 15 June 2023.
Graves, Robert Edmund. "Lawson, Cecil Gordon (1851-1882)." Dictionary of National Biography, ed. Sidney Lee Vol. 32, Lambe-Leigh (1892): 288-89. Internet Archive, from a copy in the University of Michigan Library. 15 June 2023.
Owen, Heseltine. "In Memoriam: Cecil Gordon Lawson." Magazine of Art, 17 (1894) Internet Archive. Digitizing sponsor, the Kahle-Austin Foundation. Web. 15 June 2023.
Created 14 May 2018
Last modified (commentary added) 6 June 2023