Artwork
The Serpentine
The Serpentine is a watercolor work on paper by Edward Dayes. It dates from 1750 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
Edward Dayes’ watercolour entitled The Serpentine, executed around 1750, depicts a tranquil park landscape centred on a sinuous lake. The work is part of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection and measures a modest size typical of the medium, presenting a leisurely scene of leisure and nature in the eighteenth‑century English countryside.
Subject & Meaning
The composition shows a gently curving body of water flanked by densely foliated trees, their branches heavy with leaves. Figures are scattered along the banks: groups of walkers, a solitary rider on horseback, and a person seated on the grass. The arrangement suggests a calm, social pastime within a cultivated park setting, emphasizing the harmony between people and their natural surroundings.
Technique & Style
The overall effect is one of immediacy and freshness, characteristic of English watercolour practice in the mid‑eighteenth century.
Dayes employs a light, economical brushwork that renders foliage and sky with swift, almost impressionistic strokes. A restrained palette of pale greens, soft blues and muted grays creates an airy atmosphere, while the delicate handling of water and cloud conveys a sense of fleeting light. The overall effect is one of immediacy and freshness, characteristic of English watercolour practice in the mid‑eighteenth century.
History & Provenance
Created circa 1750, The Serpentine entered the Victoria and Albert Museum’s holdings through acquisition in the early twentieth century, though earlier ownership records are sparse. Its presence in the museum’s watercolour collection reflects the institution’s commitment to preserving examples of early British landscape painting and the work of lesser‑known artists such as Dayes.
Artist & collection
Trees by the Thames, opposite Hammersmith
View on the Serpentine, Hyde Park
Wynnstay Park, Derbyshire
Leg of Mutton Pond, Hampstead Heath
View over a valley and town (possibly Bath?)
St. James's Park
Park Landscape with House, Church, and Ornamental Water
Lough Key, from Rockingham, Co. Roscommon
Purley Hall, Berkshire
The Mall from Saint James' Park
The Thames at Greenwich
The Serpentine, Kensington Gardens