An Oak Avenue, Knaresborough

Following his solo exhibition in 1894, Steer’s attitude to landscape painting changed fundamentally. He had always insisted upon the English traditions that underwrote Impressionism, quoting from Sir Joshua Reynolds’ Discourses to prove the point. Now, with a fresh eye, he would look back to Constable and the Barbizon painters who were inspired by him. In the Oak Avenue, Knaresborough, he found a classic sous bois, but his approach was radically different from that of Corot or Rousseau. While a centralized composition, dappled shade and bright splashes of blue sky make comparisons appropriate, Steer’s paint handling and surface texture is more concentrated. It is as though he is looking for Constable’s late Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1836 (National Gallery, London).

In 1905 at the height of the Select Committee’s investigation into the acquisition of contemporary art on behalf of the nation by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest, The Art Journal took it upon itself to illustrate a series of works by prominent artists – Brangwyn, Clausen, Lavery, Orpen and Whistler among them – who could well be included. The point was made that by favouring only the work of members of the Royal Academy, the Chantrey pictures were unrepresentative. Heading the article was Steer’s ‘Landscape’ – the present picture – selected no doubt for its quality and for its demonstration of new directions in Steer’s art.
KMc.