'Afternoon': Cattle watering by a lake in a mountainous landscape

Elected a Royal Academician in 1851, Thomas Creswick painted landscapes throughout his career. He collaborated with friends, for example Richard Ansdell and William Powell Frith, who were often responsible for introducing the figures and cattle into his paintings. Ruskin praised him favourably in Modern Painters, 'On the Truth of Vegetation', and thought that his knowledge of the effects of colour was almost equal to that of Turner. The present work appeared at the Royal Academy in 1870, the year after Creswick's death.