Eagle Crag and Gate Crag, Borrowdale, Cumberland

Thomas Miles Richardson Jnr was drawn to the rugged landscape of England’s Lake District, which had long been an essential destination for artists in search of picturesque or sublime experience. This watercolour could almost serve as an illustration to picturesque theories popularised by the Rev William Gilpin in the late 18th century. Gilpin advocated the painterly possibilities of English scenery and gave great emphasis to the qualities of roughness, irregularity and sudden variation. Artists were urged to improve on nature’s shortcomings by adding features such as winding roads, wandering rustics and lightning-blasted trees.