Church of St. Werburgh's, Hoo
1940
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1940
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Church of St. Werburgh's, Hoo is a 1940 watercolor by Thomas Barclay Hennell, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This watercolor shows a tall church with a sharp steeple and a clock face near the top. The building sits on a slight hill, with a few trees and small houses around it. People walk near the church, and the sky looks soft and cloudy, painted in light browns and grays. The artist used loose, quick brushstrokes to keep things feeling sketchy and alive, not too polished. The colors are mostly earthy, with a few pops of red and green in the houses and trees. Check out the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more works like this in person.
The watercolour depicts the Church of St. Werburgh in Hoo, Kent, with a chicken shed and chickens visible in the foreground, and is signed by the artist. It was created in 1940 as part of the 'Recording Britain' project, a wartime initiative funded by the Pilgrim Trust and administered by the Committee for the Employment of Artists in Wartime. The scheme employed artists to document British landscapes, buildings, and rural life, aiming to preserve a record of places and traditions perceived to be at risk from war damage or social change. Over 1,500 works were produced by 97 artists during the…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Thomas Hennell (16 April 1903 – 1945) was a British artist and writer who specialised in illustrations and essays on the subject of the British countryside.
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