Cattle Resting Beneath Trees

Medium: Oil on canvas

Provenance: Signed

Dated: 1897

Image Dimensions: 17½" x 23½" (44.5cm x 59.7cm)

Price: £8,750.00

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A fine example of the pastoral subjects for which Thomas Sidney Cooper RA became renowned, Cattle Resting Beneath Trees beautifully captures the tranquillity of the English countryside. Painted in oil on canvas and signed and dated 1897, the work exemplifies Cooper’s exceptional ability to depict livestock with remarkable accuracy, character, and sensitivity.

Set beneath the sheltering canopy of mature trees, the cattle are shown in a moment of peaceful repose, their forms carefully observed and rendered with the confidence of an artist who devoted much of his long career to the study of farm animals. The composition balances the solidity of the resting herd with the atmospheric treatment of the surrounding landscape, creating a scene imbued with calm and rural harmony.

Known affectionately as “Cow Cooper” during his lifetime, Thomas Sidney Cooper was one of the foremost animal painters of the Victorian era. His works were widely exhibited at the Royal Academy and admired for their combination of naturalistic observation and picturesque landscape settings. Throughout his career he elevated agricultural subjects into highly accomplished works of art, celebrating the beauty and dignity of rural life.

In Cattle Resting Beneath Trees, these qualities are fully apparent. The subtle interplay of light and shade, the careful modelling of the animals, and the sense of space within the landscape demonstrate the mature style of an artist at the height of his powers. Both decorative and collectible, the painting represents a superb opportunity to acquire a work by one of Britain’s most respected nineteenth-century painters of cattle and pastoral subjects.