Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
Samuel Palmer developed a personal and emotionally charged style of landscape painting that celebrated nature as the product of divine creation. This watercolor of a spectacularly colorful sunset over the hills of Surrey was painted by Palmer toward the end of his life. An autumn sky heavy with rows of cumulus clouds shimmers in a pattern of pink and amethyst, as slivers of golden light emanate from the setting sun. The idyllic landscape is an elegy not only to a passing day, but to the brevity of life itself.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
167560
label
The Golden Hour
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
167560
contentType
drawing
title
The Golden Hour
description
Samuel Palmer developed a personal and emotionally charged style of landscape painting that celebrated nature as the product of divine creation. This watercolor of a spectacularly colorful sunset over the hills of Surrey was painted by Palmer toward the end of his life. An autumn sky heavy with rows of cumulus clouds shimmers in a pattern of pink and amethyst, as slivers of golden light emanate from the setting sun. The idyllic landscape is an elegy not only to a passing day, but to the brevity of life itself.
date
1865
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79999562
creators
1468
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 25.6 x 35.4 cm (10 1/16 x 13 15/16 in.)
cul
England, 19th century
accession
2009.3
Source extras
tec
watercolor and gouache with graphite and scraping
tombstone
The Golden Hour, 1865. Samuel Palmer (British, 1805–1881). Watercolor and gouache with graphite and scraping; sheet: 25.6 x 35.4 cm (10 1/16 x 13 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2009.3
collection
DR - British
inscriptions
inscription
signed, in brown watercolor, at lower left: S. Palmer; inscribed, in graphite, on verso: Never let drawinsg on London Board be thinned by removing paper from the back. / This drawing would be unchanged after 3 centuries if the frame were in / a folding ["folding" crossed out] case with a door -- unnecessary exposure to light avoided. See Missals in B. Museum / SP
didYouKnow
Around the time this watercolor was made, Samuel Palmer began to focus primarily on naturalistic landscapes that he hoped would be commercially successful in order to contend with the practical responsibilities of married life and family.
citations
citation
Wilton, Andrew. <em>The Fitch Collection</em>. Exh. Cat. London: Leger Galleries, 1988.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: no. 54
citation
Palmer, Alfred Herbert. <em>Samuel Palmer: A Memoir.</em> London: Fine Art Society, 1882
page_number
Mentioned: pp. i, 35, no. 83; Reproduced: facing p. 34
citation
Palmer, Alfred Herbert. <em>The Life and Letters of Samuel Palmer, Painter and Etcher</em>. London: Eric & Joan Stevens, 1972.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 414
citation
Sellars, James. <em>Samuel Palmer</em>. London: Academy Editions, 1974.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 133
citation
Lister, Raymond. <em>Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Samuel Palmer</em>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 203, no. 646
citation
<em>Samuel Palmer: An Exhibition of Palmer's Works with a Leger Provenance to Celebrate a Century of Art Dealing</em>. Exh. Cat. London: Leger Galleries, 1992.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: no. 29
citation
<em>Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 254; Reproduced: p. 255
citation
"Recent Acquisitions (2005-11) at the Cleveland Museum of Art." <em>Burlington Magazine</em> 1312, no. 154 (July 2012): 525-32.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 530
citation
Lemonedes, Heather. <em>British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.
page_number
Mentioned: 114-15, 147, no. 38; Reproduced: p. 10 (detail), 115
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 163
catalogueRaisonne
Lister 646
creditline
The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:38:03.138000
sourceId
167560
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - British
med
watercolor and gouache with graphite and scraping
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
1331f2ddeda7fce1