Abbott and Holder

Abbott and Holder Picture Dealers and Conservators Est.1936 specialising in British paintings, drawings and prints c.1750-Present

The BADA Art and Antiques Fair opens today!!5th - 7th June at the Rutland Hall Hotel nr OakhamDM us for complimentary ti...
05/06/2026

The BADA Art and Antiques Fair opens today!!

5th - 7th June at the Rutland Hall Hotel nr Oakham
DM us for complimentary tickets!

Or visit our website to view the works we’re exhibiting…

PALMER | SUTHERLANDA special exhibition of Etchings by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Graham Sutherland (1903-1980)Finish...
27/05/2026

PALMER | SUTHERLAND

A special exhibition of Etchings by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Graham Sutherland (1903-1980)

Finishes Tuesday 2nd June!

A New Vision (1929-31) …

1929 brought with it two catastrophic events; the death of Sutherland’s three month old son, and the Wall Street Crash. The first fundamentally changed Sutherland’s relationship to nature, the second tore the bottom out of the booming print market. In fact, both events had strangely positive effects on Sutherland’s art. Having already felt that his exploration of pastoral compositions had come to a natural end, he began to ‘extricate myself by climbing over the hedge and restudying nature’. His new works of 1929 contain a deeply modern sense of threat and foreboding that is far removed from the earlier works of idealisation. Then, in 1930, he created his great masterpiece, ‘Pastoral’ (C.36), which pointed to a new direction not just for his own art, but for British landscape art in general. ‘Garden’ (C.378), his final etching of this period, was not selected to be hung by the traditionalist committee of the R.E. who failed to grasp what Sutherland was now trying to do. With that, Sutherland made an almost complete break with etching.

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The Art and Antiques Fair Rutland is next week! We will be exhibiting alongside fellow members - all experts in their f...
27/05/2026

The Art and Antiques Fair Rutland is next week! We will be exhibiting alongside fellow members - all experts in their field!

DM for complimentary tickets.

PALMER | SUTHERLAND A special exhibition of etchings by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Graham Sutherland (1903-1980)Conti...
23/05/2026

PALMER | SUTHERLAND

A special exhibition of etchings by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Graham Sutherland (1903-1980)

Continues at the gallery until Tuesday 2nd June!

THE PASTORAL PLATES (1925-28)

The discovery of Palmer in 1924 (see previous posts!) caused the first seismic shift in Sutherland’s art. His linear work was abandoned in favour of rich, tonal prints with intense sources of light and luminescence. This technical approach was bolstered in 1926 after he and Paul Drury visited and took instruction from F L Griggs R.E. (1876-1938). Under Palmer’s influence, Sutherland’s rural subjects became romantic, pastoral compositions of the imagination rather than based on observational drawing. Rather than following Palmer’s literary bent, he had been ‘amazed at the completeness, both emotional and technical’ of Palmer’s prints and found it ‘wonderful that a strong emotion, such as was Palmer’s, could change and transform the appearance of things’.

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Come see our special exhibition of thirty-five prints by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Graham Sutherland (1903-1960). On...
18/05/2026

Come see our special exhibition of thirty-five prints by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Graham Sutherland (1903-1960). On view at our gallery from tomorrow Tuesday May 19th - Thursday June 2nd.

Palmer’s other great project towards the end of his life was an illustrated translation of Virgil’s Eclogues. Only one of his prints, ‘Opening the Fold’ (L.13), was finished in his lifetime. Four further plates which had been left in a well-developed state on his death in 1881 were finished by his son, A. H. Palmer. The prints were eventually published alongside Palmer’s translation as An English Version of the Eclogues of Virgil in 1883.



‘The Homeward Star’ (L.14); an illustration to Virgil’s Eclogue I. State II of IV.
‘The Cypress Grove’ (L.15); an illustration to Virgil’s Eclogue V. Etching. State II of IV.
‘Opening the Fold’ or ‘Early Morning’ (L.13); an illustration to Virgil’s Eclogue VIII. . State VII of X.
‘Moeris and Galatea’ (L.17); an illustration to Virgil’s Eclogue IX. State II of IV.
‘The Sepulchre’ (L.16); an illustration to Virgil’s Eclogue VIII. State II of IV.

17/05/2026

PALMER | SUTHERLAND Continues until 5pm Sunday 17th May and reopens at the gallery on Tuesday 19th May!

Come see our special exhibition of thirty-five prints by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Graham Sutherland (1903-1960). Op...
16/05/2026

Come see our special exhibition of thirty-five prints by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Graham Sutherland (1903-1960). Open for one final day Sunday May 17th and then on view at our gallery from Tuesday May 19th - Thursday June 2nd.



The first of Palmer’s larger plates contrast with his earlier etchings not just in size but also in format. A shift from vertical to horizontal compositions allowed Palmer to make a series of landscapes that are literally and metaphorically broader in scope. These are brave and complex works that pool all of his previous experience in landscape painting. Technically, they are his most experimental prints and went through many states.



‘The Early Ploughman’ or ‘The Morning Spread upon the Mountains’ (L9). 1860/1861. State V of IX
‘The Morning of Life’ (L.10). 1860/61. State VII of VII.
‘The Weary Ploughman’ or ‘The Herdsman’ (L.8). 1858. State VIII of VIII.
‘The Rising Moon’ or ‘An English Pastoral’ (L.7). 1857. State VII of IX.

Come see our special exhibition of thirty-five prints by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Graham Sutherland (1903-1960). Op...
15/05/2026

Come see our special exhibition of thirty-five prints by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Graham Sutherland (1903-1960). Open Thursday May 14th- Sunday May 17th and then on view at our gallery from Tuesday May 19th - Thursday June 2nd.
 
Palmer’s first five etchings are all small works. They are often grouped together for this reason as much as their similar date. Four were made in 1850, during the first rush of excitement of taking up etching. The fifth ‘The Sleeping Shepherd’ (L.6) was made after a hiatus, in 1857. With the exception of ‘The Willow’ (L.1), which is based on a drawing made from life (Manchester Art Gallery, 1936-196), they are works of the imagination, inspired by literary sources.
 
1. ‘Christmas’ or ‘Folding the Last Sheep’ (L.4). Etching. 1850. State IV of V.
2. ‘The Skylark’ (L.2). Etching. 1850. State VIII of VIII. 
3. ‘Herdsman’s Cottage’ (L.3). Etching. 1850. State II of II. 
4. ‘The Sleeping Shepherd’ (L.6). Etching. 1857. State IV of IV. 
5. ‘The Willow’ (L.1). Etching. 1850. State I of III.

Thank you Alex Capon and for the feature in this month’s print edition. One hundred years ago the V&A hosted a seminal ...
11/05/2026

Thank you Alex Capon and for the feature in this month’s print edition. One hundred years ago the V&A hosted a seminal exhibition of work by Samuel Palmer. On its centenary we’re delighted to be bringing thirty-five prints by Samuel Palmer and Graham Sutherland side-by-side to

PALMER | SUTHERLAND A special exhibition of thirty-five etchings by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Graham Sutherland (190...
08/05/2026

PALMER | SUTHERLAND
A special exhibition of thirty-five etchings by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Graham Sutherland (1903-1980)

Thursday 14th – Sunday 17th May
Please contact the gallery for complimentary tickets.

THE EXHIBITION WILL CONTINUE
at 30 Museum Street, London WC1A 1LH
Tuesday 19th May – Tuesday 2nd June

One hundred years ago the V&A hosted a seminal exhibition of work by Samuel Palmer. It established him as one of Britain’s great imaginative artists. From relative obscurity he became the overriding influence on a group of young Modern British artists who would become known as the Neo-Romantics. The etchings of Graham Sutherland are considered some of the finest modern works made in response to Palmer. This exhibition of thirty-five prints gives a rare chance to appreciate the extraordinary talents of Palmer and Sutherland side-by-side.

Link in bio for further details!

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30 Museum Street
London
WC1A1LH

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 6pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 6pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 6pm
Thursday 9:30am - 7pm
Friday 9:30am - 6pm
Saturday 9:30am - 6pm

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