In search of the roots of impressionism

Garden in Shoreham (1820s or early 1830s) – Samuel Palmer

 

Samuel Palmer (1805 – 1881) was largely forgotten after his death. In 1909, large amounts of his Shoreham work were destroyed by his surviving son Herbert Palmer, who burnt “a great quantity of father’s handiwork … Knowing that no one would be able to make head or tail of what I burnt; I wished to save it from a more humiliating fate”. The destruction “included sketchbooks, notebooks, and original works, and lasted for days”.