Surrey Downs
probably 1915
Medium
pen and brown ink with brown wash
Dimensions
overall: 24 x 37.1 cm (9 7/16 x 14 5/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.6127
Art Historical Context
James McBey’s *Surrey Downs*, created around 1915, captures the gentle rolling landscape of southern England in a delicate pen-and-brown-ink drawing with subtle brown wash. McBey, a Scottish artist celebrated for his expressive etchings and on-the-spot sketches, uses fluid line work and tonal washes to suggest light moving across open fields and low hills. The modest size—just 24 by 37 centimeters—invites close viewing, rewarding the eye with the quiet rhythm of the countryside. The drawing’s technique highlights McBey’s skill at conveying atmosphere with limited means. The brown ink provides...
About the Artist
James McBey
James McBey (1883–1959) was a Scottish artist renowned for his etchings and paintings, emerging from humble beginnings in Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, as the illegitimate son of a blacksmith's daughter. Largely self-taught, he left school at fifteen to work as a bank clerk in Aberdeen, where he devoured art books from the public library and attended evening classes at Gray's School of Art to hone his ...