Artwork
A Cornfield
A Cornfield is a watercolor work on paper by the Romanticist artist David Cox. It dates from 1800 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
David Cox’s 1800 watercolour, titled A Cornfield, captures a tranquil rural scene. The composition centers on two figures seated on a grassy slope, their light cloaks contrasting with the surrounding landscape. Beyond them, a swath of harvested corn extends toward a distant shoreline, under a pale sky dotted with soft clouds.
Subject & Meaning
The work presents a quiet moment of everyday life, emphasizing the relationship between people and the cultivated land. The seated figures suggest a pause in labor, inviting contemplation of the seasonal cycle and the modest pleasures found within a working countryside.
Technique & Style
Cox employs loose, fluid brushwork typical of early English watercolours, allowing pigments to merge and create subtle gradations of light and shadow. The palette is restrained, with muted greens, ochres, and sky blues that convey atmosphere without sharp outlines, reinforcing the scene’s calm mood.
History & Provenance
A Cornfield entered the national collection through the bequest of Richard Ellison’s widow, who donated a hundred British watercolours in 1860 and 1873 to bolster the emerging National Collection of Water Colour Paintings. The piece bears Cox’s signature, confirming its authorship and date.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
David Cox (29 April 1783 – 7 June 1859) was an English landscape painter, one of the most important members of the Birmingham School of landscape artists and an early precursor of Impressionism.
![Trees [verso], by David Cox](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/david-cox--trees-verso--2f59ba73e183df09-w320.webp)
![Chatsworth [recto], by David Cox](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/david-cox--chatsworth-recto--3f4d97adb21a8333-w320.webp)
