id: 170718 accession number: 2013.240 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2013.240 updated: 2023-03-22 03:04:57.396000 Steps in a Garden, 1860. William Henry Millais (British, 1828–1899). Watercolor and gouache with scratch-away technique to create highlights on sturdy-weight wove paper mounted to same by artist with color tests in margins of mount; sheet: 33.8 x 26 cm (13 5/16 x 10 1/4 in.); secondary support: 39 x 32.4 cm (15 3/8 x 12 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz 2013.240 title: Steps in a Garden title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1860 creation date earliest: 1860 creation date latest: 1860 current location: creditline: Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz copyright: --- culture: England, 19th century technique: watercolor and gouache with scratch-away technique to create highlights on sturdy-weight wove paper mounted to same by artist with color tests in margins of mount department: Drawings collection: DR - British type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * William Henry Millais (British, 1828–1899) - artist --- measurements: Sheet: 33.8 x 26 cm (13 5/16 x 10 1/4 in.); Secondary Support: 39 x 32.4 cm (15 3/8 x 12 3/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: sturdy-weight, moderately textured, wove paper watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: initialed, in orange paint over purple paint, at lower left: WHM; inscribed, in purple paint, at lower left: 1860 translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2013-02-10T00:00:00 British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013). title: Imagining the Garden opening date: 2015-10-24T00:00:00 Imagining the Garden. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 24, 2015-March 6, 2016). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE D. Parkinson date: ?-? footnotes: citations: (sale, Sotheby's, London, December 6, 1977, no. 36) date: 1977 footnotes: citations: (Maas Gallery, London) date: after 1977-? footnotes: citations: Helen and Albert Borowitz, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: ?-2013 footnotes: citations: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2013- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: William Henry Millais's brother John Everett was a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood and encouraged the older artist to pursue landscape as a subject. digital description: William Henry Millais was closely associated with the founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He sketched extensively from nature in the early 1850s. Here, Millais painted a sequestered landscape of rough-hewn steps ascending a shady slope. A smattering of light pierces a dense canopy of trees, allowing little to flourish except for the foxgloves that adorn the foreground. Ivy growing on the hillside, a decaying stump, and moss-covered steps suggest the passage of time. wall description: The older brother of John Everett Millais, William Henry was closely associated with the founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Following his brother’s encouragement, William sketched extensively from nature in the early 1850s. Here, he painted a sequestered landscape of rough-hewn steps ascending a shady slope. A smattering of light pierces a dense canopy of trees, allowing little to flourish except for the foxgloves that adorn the foreground. Ivy growing on the hillside, a decaying stump, and moss-covered steps suggest the passage of time. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. page number: Mentioned: pp. 112-3, 147, no. 37; Reproduced: p. 113 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.240/2013.240_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.240/2013.240_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.240/2013.240_full.tif