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:
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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:
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CREATORS
* William Henry Millais (British, 1828–1899) - artist
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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:
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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).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
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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:
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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.
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RELATED WORKS
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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:
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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