George Morland: 96 Masterpieces

George Morland was an English painter of animals and rustic scenes. His pictures were of the everyday life of his time, and of the experiences of the folk with whom he mixed, depicted with purity and simplicity, and showing much direct and instinctive feeling for nature. His coloring is mellow, rich in tone, and vibrant in quality. His work necessarily has the defects of his qualities and of his life - in his haste he often seems to have sacrificed some of the power which a more deliberate method might have imparted. He was one of the greatest masters of The English School, uniting in his work the magic of Gainsborough with the delicacy of an Old Dutch painter. Though he made a specialty of horses, he painted life on the high road and scenes of rural life with marvellous insight and skill. If his fame rests mainly upon his power of painting animals, his best attributes are shown in the social scenes which he portrayed so faithfully.