On the North Coast of Devon, Lundy Island in the Distance

On the North Coast of Devon, Lundy Island in the Distance

Samuel Palmer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

During the mid-1830s, Samuel Palmer moved away from the visionary style of his youthful Shoreham period when he belonged to a group of like-minded artists known as the "Ancients." In this coastal view of a county he dubbed "dear, spongy Devon," Palmer's obsessive attention to detail and penchant for striking color serve a naturalistic vision. A highly finished promontory in the center of the scene contrasts with a loosely-sketched foreground, and the inventive process is underscored by black chalk lines applied over the watercolor to emphasize the graphite sketch beneath. Lundy Island, seen on the right horizon, lies in the Bristol Channel, twelve miles north of Devon. Palmer first toured the area in 1834, and likely made the present watercolor during a return visit a year later.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

On the North Coast of Devon, Lundy Island in the DistanceOn the North Coast of Devon, Lundy Island in the DistanceOn the North Coast of Devon, Lundy Island in the DistanceOn the North Coast of Devon, Lundy Island in the DistanceOn the North Coast of Devon, Lundy Island in the Distance

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.