A Rest by the Way (Open Landscape with Figures, Donkey and Horses)

Thomas Gainsborough

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Using brown wash defined by a pen strokes, Gainsborough constructs a landscape from a few elements--a traveler sits on a bank near his dog and loaded donkey, trees border a path, and a rider moves into the distance. The apparent simplicity belies the artist's sophisticated mastery of abstract principles, and the drawing dates to his London period--which began in 1774 after his move from Bath.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art