Many of W.H. Gore’s rural paintings display a nostalgic view of the nearby
Kennet Valley and the surrounding Berkshire countryside. The influence of the French
Barbizon School of realism and in particular the work of
Jean-François Millet and
François-Louis Français is evident in his work. The heyday of the Barbizon School was over by c 1870 but Gore incorporates some of the prominent features of the French school in the use of: colour, softness of form and in tonal qualities. Two works by Millet
The Angelus a painting of two figures standing during a contemplative moment and
The Gleaners the latter portraying the figures toiling in the landscape were well known to late Victorians and their symbolic content influenced Gore in his depiction of rural life. Paintings from the 1880s such as:
Listed from the
Guildhall collection in London and a watercolour
In The Gloaming are intimate portrayals of Late Victorian romantic painting.
Listed (sic) depicts two young lovers in sad reflection of the prospect of a young man joining up with his regiment. The ribbons in his cap refer to the custom of new recruits wearing their regimental colours to denote their willingness to be shot at for sixpence a day. The pathos of the idea expressed moved
H. Stacy Marks, R.A., who was a member of the Council of the Royal Academy, to tears such was its effect on his sensibilities. Marks reaction provides an insight into the mind-set of many Victorians.
In The Gloaming sees two lovers by the
River Kennet in tender proximity to each other. These were themes that Gore returned to throughout his painting career. They provided him with a reasonable living but by the end of his life they were unfashionable and no longer in demand. They appealed to a late Victorian sensibility that the values of a
Merrie England of bucolic contentment still existed. The reality was that the Berkshire countryside, along with the rest of the British countryside, was irrevocably changing. The 1880s were a time of an economic recession in the English countryside that lasted for most of the Nineteenth Century with many thousands of poorly paid agricultural workers leaving the land for the towns and the cities and with their exodus many of the rural trades and skills also disappeared The hardships of rural life are generally missing from Gore’s rural paintings. Nevertheless there is a subtle poignancy within paintings such as
The Wood Gatherers (Royal Academy 1897) and
Rising Moon (Royal Academy 1908) with its echoes of
Linnell and
Constable. W.H. Gore's landscapes without figures display an abiding affinity for the Berkshire countryside. The area of the River Kennet valley lies within flat pastures, moors and meadows and provided scope for panoramas of watery meadows and high skies. In common with many English landscape artists the skies are reminiscent of the work of John Constable (also a favourite of the French Barbizon School). The early works are inspired by the
Romantic poetry of
Shelley and
Keats, sentiments from an earlier age and possess titles that include
Midst Tall crested reeds whispering their lullaby (RSBA 1881) and
Stretch’d Wide and Wild the Enormous Marsh (RSBA 1892). Gore’s rural landscapes often possess tranquillity and an abiding affection for the countryside. ==Children and animal paintings==