The dyer’s brook, Kingswood

Edward Henry Fahey studied architecture at the National Art Training School in London, and his watercolours show an abiding affection for English vernacular architecture. He found objects of peculiar beauty in the timeworn textures and mellow tones of old buildings. Often devoid of human presence, Fahey’s seemingly neglected buildings and still, unassuming scenes evoke a mood of vague wistfulness. The artist was closely associated with a group of progressive young watercolourists loosely linked to the Aesthetic Movement who were dubbed by critics the ‘poetry-without-grammar school – delightful for sentiment, but ridiculous for drawing’.