Lynwood Palmer

Golden Corn, a racehorse owned by Marshall Field III (1893-1956), grandson and heir of Palmer's early patron Marshall Field I (1834-1906).[1] Painted by Palmer in 1922
Lord Annaly, Master of the Pytchley Hunt. Portrait of Luke White, 3rd Baron Annaly (1857–1922), Master of the Pytchley Hunt 1902-1914, by Lynwood Palmer
Ambrose Clark and favourite coach horse. Portrait of F. Ambrose Clark (1880-1964), American equestrian, by Lynwood Palmer

(James) Lynwood Palmer (1868-1941) was an English painter who specialised in painting race-horses, his characteristic style showing them as nervous and highly-strung, often with a background of a dramatic landscape. Widely considered to have been the best horse painter of his generation,[2] he accepted commissions exclusively from private patrons, among whom were most notably William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland (1857-1943) (notably The Duke of Portland's stallions at Welbeck Stud (1900)[3]), Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick (1861-1938) and King George V (1865-1936).[4] He rarely exhibited his work to the public.[5]

Origins

He was born in 1868 at Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, the third son of Rev. G. Linwood Palmer,[6][7] who in 1863 was a member of the Lincoln Diocesan Architectural Society[8] and was a canon of Rochester Cathedral in Kent.[9]

Career

He was educated at King's College, and was destined for a career in Law or in the Foreign Office. However at the age of 17, to escape his pre-planned future, he emigrated to Canada where he worked with horses on cattle ranches, as a hansom cab master and show jumper,[10] and developed his skill in sketching horses. According to Lyllyan Baldwin (1933): "The first public success in his artistic career was perhaps that which came through the illustrations of an American catalogue of a sale of horses. The drawings received great praise and resulted in a number of commissions".[11] This was perhaps in connection with a certain "General Field of the US Army", who is said to have been pivotal in helping to establish his career as a painter: According to Laffaye: "He took a batch of horses to New York; Gen. Field of the US Army saw his sketches and started him on his artistic career".[12] He remained in North America for 11 years and found there several patrons who admired his style of painting and purchased his works, including Marshall Field I (1834-1906), the American entrepreneur and founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores.[13] In 1891 having established his reputation, he decided to return to England and settled at the White House[14] in Heston, Middlesex.[15] He was a judge at the International Horse Show at Olympia.[16]

Carriage driving

He had a passion for carriage driving and was frequently seen driving his "beautifully maintained"[17] coach and four. During World War I, being too old for active service, he offered his skills for the service of the nation by managing a 750 horse stud for the Royal Mail.[18]

Technique

In 1927 he explained his work as follows:

"The secret of painting race-horses lies in quickness. Their movements are so alert, they are so full of nervous energy, that the artist has to have a hand like a streak of lightning to catch the pose while it lasts".[19]

His success as an artist was largely derived through his ability to infuse into his expert draugtsmanship his thorough and first-hand understanding of the characteristics of the animals he was painting.[20]

Personal life & character

He was "always elegantly dressed, and with impeccable manners, he was hugely popular, especially, it was rumoured, with the wives of some of his patrons".[21] He received a serious injury when kicked by one of his equine subjects close to the heart, which affected him considerably in his later years. He does not appear to have married, and in his will left personal possessions including his riding crop and glasses to his housekeeper Mary Cox, which items were sold at auction by Sotheby's on 1 November 2006.[22]

Further reading

  • Fountain, Robert & Kennedy, Neil, Lynwood Palmer, 1868-1941, Equestrian Artist, Whip and Horseman
  • Baldwin, Lyllyan, Lynwood Palmer - Painter of Horses, Apollo Magazine, Vol.17, no,101, May 1933, pp. 175–180 The author was Palmer's secretary.[23]

Illustrations of works

References

  1. ↑ http://www.horseracinghistory.co.uk/hrho/action/viewDocument?id=1215
  2. ↑ http://www.sallymitchell.com/products/14140/lynwood-palmer-equestrian-artist-whip-and-horseman-equestrian-art-book15
  3. ↑ See image
  4. ↑ https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/402434/limelight
  5. ↑ ; One exhibition of his work was held at the Carlton Gallery, London, in 1898
  6. ↑ https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/11932/lot/85/
  7. ↑ It is not known whether the family claimed descent from the ancient de Lyndowode or Lynwood family, lords of the manor of Linwood, situated 2 miles south of Market Rasen
  8. ↑ Reports and papers of the architectural and archaeological societies By Associated Architectural Societies, 1863, p.vi
  9. ↑ Rasen horse artist "finest of his generation", Market Rasen Mail newspaper, 27 October 2006'
  10. ↑ sallymitchell.com
  11. ↑ Baldwin, Lyllyan, Lynwood Palmer - Painter of Horses, Apollo Magazine, Vol.17, no,101, May 1933, pp.175-6
  12. ↑ Horace A. Laffaye, Polo in the United States: A History, p.306
  13. ↑ Toledo Club Newsletter, September 2011, p.19 The Toledo Club Art Collection: "his list of wealthy American clients included the Vanderbilts and Marshall Field"
  14. ↑ Rasen horse artist "finest of his generation", Market Rasen Mail newspaper, 27 October 2006
  15. ↑ https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/11932/lot/85/
  16. ↑ http://www.sallymitchell.com/products/14140/lynwood-palmer-equestrian-artist-whip-and-horseman-equestrian-art-book15
  17. ↑ http://www.sallymitchell.com/products/14140/lynwood-palmer-equestrian-artist-whip-and-horseman-equestrian-art-book15
  18. ↑ http://www.sallymitchell.com/products/14140/lynwood-palmer-equestrian-artist-whip-and-horseman-equestrian-art-book15
  19. ↑ https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/402434/limelight
  20. ↑ http://www.sallymitchell.com/products/14140/lynwood-palmer-equestrian-artist-whip-and-horseman-equestrian-art-book15
  21. ↑ http://www.sallymitchell.com/products/14140/lynwood-palmer-equestrian-artist-whip-and-horseman-equestrian-art-book15
  22. ↑ Rasen horse artist "finest of his generation", Market Rasen Mail newspaper, 27 October 2006
  23. ↑ Per letter dated 26 March 1993 from Mrs Patricia MacGregor of Barnes, London, to Hayden Proud, Curator of Paintings, South African National Gallery, Capetown
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