Standing Cow

This is one of several drawings of cows made by Gainsborough in the mid 1750s, which appear to have come from the same disbound sketchbook. Such studies would have provided the artist with a variety of models to use in more highly finished works, where cattle became a recurring motif. At this relatively early point in his career, Gainsborough favoured pencil as a drawing medium. He used it while roaming the countryside to depict the minutiae of rural life in Suffolk – from mossy banks and local fauna, to wildlife and pastoral livestock. Gainsborough’s handling of cattle bears a striking similarity with the work of the Dutch seventeenth century artist Aelbert Cuyp. Cows featured prominently in Cuyp’s work, and he seems to have perceived a certain grandeur in them. He often simplified their forms, accentuating their horns, shoulders and hindquarters to create sharp, angular shapes.

Purchased with an anonymous donation given through the National Art Collections Fund with the Gainsborough's House Society Development Trust and a grant from the Museums Association (Beecroft Bequest), January 1996