396
biodiversity right there, under every weather, was more than enough to grapple
with. As Goldberg writes, “It is his [Crome’s] realistic transmutation of nature’s
tranquil moments which makes his work a triumph.”
24
In many of the best of Crome’s works, paintings like “New Mills: Men Wading”
(City of Norwich Museums, 1812), “Moonlight On The Yare” (Paul Mellon
Collection, 1817), “The Old Oak” (National Gallery of Canada, 1813), “Marlingford
Grove” (The Lady Lever Gallery, 1815), “A Study of A Burdock” (City of Norwich
Museums, 1813), “Thistle And Water Vole” (Paul Mellon Collection, 1813–1814),
“Norwich River: Afternoon” (Collection Mr. Max Michaelis, 1819), “Mousehold
Heath, Norwich” (The Tate Gallery, 1818–1820), there is the entrancing permanence of a countryside vision, delineated under no discernible duress, outside the
distribution of angst that is the social contract gone awry, but, rather, a human nature
in harmony with herself and others for all time.
25
Among his rarity of sketches and etchings, “Sketch Of Three Pigs” (Witt
Collection, 1809–1810), “Composition: Sandy Road through Woodland” (British
Museum Print Room, 1813), “At Heigham” (British Museum Print Room,
1812–1813), “Front of the New Mills, Norwich” (British Museum Print Room,
1813), and his great storm approaching a windmill in “Mousehold Heath, Norwich”
(entirely different than his oil by the same title, British Museum Print Room,
1810–1811); or his watercolors “Tintern Abbey” (City of Norwich Museums,
1804–1805), “Silver Birches” (City of Norwich Museums, 1814–1815), and
“Landscape with Cottages” (Victoria and Albert Museum, 1809–1810), we are living testimony to the continuity of a utopic understanding that surpasses nature’s
own dissonance and overcrowding. By his insistent love of his own neighborhoods,
and the immeasurable patience he espoused in formulating and refining an aesthetic
from the most everyday sentience, Crome has managed to eclipse the famous and
frothing capitals of the world, the exotic ecosystems on other continents, or the very
inaccessible to tempt every expedition to nowhere, by, instead, cultivating his very
backyard.
24 op. cit., Goldberg, Volume 1, p. 34. See also, The Norman and Roselea Goldberg Collection,
Vanderbilt University: https://collections.library.vanderbilt.edu/repositories/2/resources/977#.
25 See “The Painting- In Focus,” by Rachel Scott and Sam Smiles, The Tate, https://www.tate.org.
uk/research/publications/in-focus/mousehold-heath-norwich-john-crome/the-painting, Accessed
April 21, 2020; See also, by “Pictorial Transitions: Crome,” in “Prints and Principles,” by Dr.
Gordon James Brown, July 29, 2012, http://www.printsandprinciples.com/2012/07/crome-pictorial-transitions.html, Accessed April 21, 2020.
43 The Paradox of Solace
biodiversity right there, under every weather, was more than enough to grapple
with. As Goldberg writes, “It is his [Crome’s] realistic transmutation of nature’s
tranquil moments which makes his work a triumph.”
24
In many of the best of Crome’s works, paintings like “New Mills: Men Wading”
(City of Norwich Museums, 1812), “Moonlight On The Yare” (Paul Mellon
Collection, 1817), “The Old Oak” (National Gallery of Canada, 1813), “Marlingford
Grove” (The Lady Lever Gallery, 1815), “A Study of A Burdock” (City of Norwich
Museums, 1813), “Thistle And Water Vole” (Paul Mellon Collection, 1813–1814),
“Norwich River: Afternoon” (Collection Mr. Max Michaelis, 1819), “Mousehold
Heath, Norwich” (The Tate Gallery, 1818–1820), there is the entrancing permanence of a countryside vision, delineated under no discernible duress, outside the
distribution of angst that is the social contract gone awry, but, rather, a human nature
in harmony with herself and others for all time.
25
Among his rarity of sketches and etchings, “Sketch Of Three Pigs” (Witt
Collection, 1809–1810), “Composition: Sandy Road through Woodland” (British
Museum Print Room, 1813), “At Heigham” (British Museum Print Room,
1812–1813), “Front of the New Mills, Norwich” (British Museum Print Room,
1813), and his great storm approaching a windmill in “Mousehold Heath, Norwich”
(entirely different than his oil by the same title, British Museum Print Room,
1810–1811); or his watercolors “Tintern Abbey” (City of Norwich Museums,
1804–1805), “Silver Birches” (City of Norwich Museums, 1814–1815), and
“Landscape with Cottages” (Victoria and Albert Museum, 1809–1810), we are living testimony to the continuity of a utopic understanding that surpasses nature’s
own dissonance and overcrowding. By his insistent love of his own neighborhoods,
and the immeasurable patience he espoused in formulating and refining an aesthetic
from the most everyday sentience, Crome has managed to eclipse the famous and
frothing capitals of the world, the exotic ecosystems on other continents, or the very
inaccessible to tempt every expedition to nowhere, by, instead, cultivating his very
backyard.
24 op. cit., Goldberg, Volume 1, p. 34. See also, The Norman and Roselea Goldberg Collection,
Vanderbilt University: https://collections.library.vanderbilt.edu/repositories/2/resources/977#.
25 See “The Painting- In Focus,” by Rachel Scott and Sam Smiles, The Tate, https://www.tate.org.
uk/research/publications/in-focus/mousehold-heath-norwich-john-crome/the-painting, Accessed
April 21, 2020; See also, by “Pictorial Transitions: Crome,” in “Prints and Principles,” by Dr.
Gordon James Brown, July 29, 2012, http://www.printsandprinciples.com/2012/07/crome-pictorial-transitions.html, Accessed April 21, 2020.
43 The Paradox of Solace