Gallery 394, European Art 1500-1850, third floor
Main Building
Gallery 394, European Art 1500-1850, third floor
Main Building
Linnell disapproved of organized religion but believed that God was reflected in the sublimity of nature. Here, he conveys the shivering leaves and eerie light just before a storm, capturing the instant when lightning strikes a distant church steeple. In the foreground a family of farmers, dwarfed by the towering thunderclouds, rushes for shelter as their dog leaps ahead.
Linnell was a patron of William Blake and a close associate of "The Ancients," a group of younger painters and engravers (including Linnell’s son-in-law Samuel Palmer) who drew inspiration from Blake’s mystic interpretations of the British landscape. By the 1840s Linnell had gained a reputation as one of Britain’s leading landscape artists. Though his works depict an idyllic countryside untouched by urbanization or industry, many of his most important patrons were industrialists. This work, for example, was originally owned by Joseph Fenton, who built and owned a cotton mill outside Manchester.
Gallery 394, European Art 1500-1850, third floor
Title: | The Storm (The Refuge) |
Date: | 1853 |
Artist: | John Linnell (English, 1792–1882) |
Medium: | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions: | 35 1/2 x 57 1/2 inches (90.2 x 146.1 cm) |
Classification: | Paintings |
Credit Line: | The John Howard McFadden Collection, 1928 |
Accession Number: | M1928-1-17 |
Geography: | Made in Great Britain, Europe |
We are always open to learning more about our collections and updating the website. Does this record contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? Contact us here.
Please note that this particular artwork might not be on view when you visit. Don’t worry—we have plenty of exhibitions for you to explore.
Gallery 394, European Art 1500-1850, third floor
Main Building