A Summer Shower

Ernest Waterlow painted 'A Summer Shower' in 1874, just a year after winning the prestigious Turner medal for landscape painting at the Royal Academy schools. At only 24 years old, Waterlow was already demonstrating the 'grace and distinction' that would characterize his considerable output of landscapes throughout his career. This early work captures a quintessentially British weather phenomenon—the sudden summer rain shower—with the atmospheric sensitivity that would eventually earn him election to the Royal Academy and a knighthood in 1902.

Waterlow excelled in both oil and watercolour, becoming president of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1897. His landscapes were admired for their poetic handling of light and weather, qualities perfectly suited to capturing the transient effects of a passing shower. The 1870s were formative years for Waterlow, as he began exhibiting publicly in 1872 and was developing the lyrical landscape style that would define his work. This painting represents the young artist finding his voice, translating the Turner medal-winning skills he'd honed at the Royal Academy into mature, exhibition-worthy canvases that captured the subtle moods of the English countryside.