- Gainsborough (1727-1788), Thomas
- A Fallen Tree
- c.1754
- Drawing
- Graphite on laid paper
- 14.3x18.4 cm
- Inv. Nr. 2003.018
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Though Gainsborough often sketched fallen trees, the level of detail in this study is unusual. The gnarled and rotten carcass of the trunk forms a striking contrast to the fresh sprigs of growth that have sprung back to life and reach up to the sky. Gainsborough’s representations of the natural world were often loaded with metaphorical allusions to life and death, and this may be deduced here.
The motif of a fallen tree featured in many of Gainsborough’s paintings. His large canvas titled The Fallen Tree, in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Accession Number 53.1), is a fine example. Pencil studies like this may well have informed such works, which are typically more developed scenes.
An inscription on the reverse of the sheet indicates that this drawing was originally purchased from Gainsborough’s daughter, Margaret, along with six others. After her mother’s death in 1798, Margaret sold a number of her father’s drawings privately before sending a large number to auction at Christie’s in May 1799. - Purchased with an anonymous donation given through the National Art Collections Fund and the Gainsborough's House Society Development Trust, the National Art Collections Fund and an anonymous donation, December 2003
