Landscape with Cows and Sheep

Thomas Sidney Cooper was one of the major painters of animal scenes in Britain. This classic rural scene is typical of his work. Cows and sheep graze on grassy lowland and marshes stretch out into the distance on the left-hand side. Cooper depicts the interaction between the livestock, as the larger sheep in the foreground stands over her lambs. Their long hair is matted and ready for shearing, their undersides tinged through contact with the soil. The black cow, its tail swishing behind it, provides a focal point and a foil to the bright yellow sky.

Cooper was enormously popular in his lifetime, submitting works to the Royal Academy across an impressive 70 years. In 1848 his fame was sealed by a commission from Queen Victoria to paint her Victoria Jersey cow, affectionately named Buffie, at Osborne House.

Cooper would often study from life, and in the 1830s he would visit Regent’s Park to make sketches of the animals that would graze there, and Smithfield Market to make studies in oil and watercolour. In the 1850s he moved out to the countryside and bred his own livestock to paint. Another of his works, Landscape with Sheep and Goats, hangs nearby.

Purchased by Thomas Holloway, 1881.