This vivid, fluid oil sketch is typical of Churchyard's best work and has an immediacy to it which recalls Constable's plein air oil sketches. Where Churchyard differs is that these rapidly executed panels were presented as completed works as opposed to being preparatory studies.

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Churchyard was a contemporary of Constable (attending the same school, 10 years apart) and their work has often been confused due to the similarities in style and subject. Indeed, one of Churchyards works even resided in the Paul Mellon Collection, Yale for a while, catalogued as Constable.

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Thomas Churchyard was a country lawyer in Woodbridge but his lifelong enthusiasm was for painting and he produced hundreds of watercolours and oils. He formed a friendship with the poets Bernard Barton and Edward Fitzgerald and the group became known as the "wits of Woodbridge". Throughout his life he was an avid collector and his estate included works by Gainsborough, Constable and Crome. His work is held in the Tate Gallery, The British Museum, the V & A and the Ashmolean.

 

Works in Public collections: Ashmolean Museum

 

For further biographical information on Churchyard, see the entry on this superb website: suffolkpainters.co.uk

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Other works by the artist: