Inscribed l.r.: Eton

Watercolour over pen and ink, 24.5 by 35 cm (9 ½ by 13 ¾ ins)

Goodwin was a pupil of Arthur Hughes who was later championed by John Ruskin. His landscape watercolours have a rich, mystical tone to them in part achieved by his sometimes ingenious mixture of mediums. Many collectors have also detected in them something of the spiritual, arguably accounted for by his own strong religious beliefs. He wrote in his diary in 1888: “The whole natural world…is one great allegory, typical of the spiritual world. Our business is to study the natural world as the continued revelation of God, guiding us forever into fresh revelation of himself.” (quoted, Arts Council, Landscape in Britain 1850-1950, exhibition catalogue 1983, p.77 (under no.57).