Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury
1940
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1940
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury is a 1940 watercolor by Hennell, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This sketch shows a rough, old stone church with a tall, pointed roof and a big arched doorway. In front of it, a group of cows stands on uneven ground, some grazing, others resting. The colors are mostly browns and grays, with a few patches of green and blue in the background. The artist used quick, loose strokes—some areas look almost like scribbles, while others hold more detail, like the church’s windows. This sketch feels like a fast note of a place, not a polished picture. Check out Hennell for more of his quick, sketchy watercolors.
A watercolour by Hennell from 1940 depicts the Abbey Barn at Abbotsbury, showing cattle entering through its arched entrance and grazing in the adjacent field. The work was created as part of the "Recording Britain" project, a wartime initiative funded by the Pilgrim Trust and directed by Sir Kenneth Clark to document the British landscape and national identity during the Second World War. The scheme commissioned artists to capture scenes such as rural buildings, landscapes, and traditional ways of life, aiming to preserve a record of a changing country amid concerns over bomb damage, urban…
Read the full account in the museum source.
The Hennell family is a family of prominent silver-smiths and writers in Southern England.
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