The white mill (near Sandwich)

William Palmer Robins (1882-1959) was the son of an art teacher and naturalist. He originally studied architecture at King's College, London and later studied at various London art schools including the Royal College of Art under Sir Frank Short and went on to teach at St Martin's School of Art, London, for over 20 years. In 1913 he became an associate and in 1917 a full member of the Royal Society of Painter Etchers. In 1911 he won the Silver medal of the National Competition for the History of Architecture.

Robins was a most exacting artist: if a plate did not meet his critical eye, he would destroy it. He himself estimated that twice as many plates as he published were destroyed. He was considered a highly skilled member of the picturesque landscape tradition which is reminiscent of the work of Rembrandt. In all he produced some 160 etchings together with some aquatints, wood engravings and lithographs. He favoured flat landscapes, largely devoted to trees of which the beech was his favourite, and which were etched direct onto the plate from nature. He also depicted harbours with boats and detailed studies of buildings: churches, bridges and so on, as well as a limited number of portraits.

The white mill (near Sandwich) is a typical etching in this genre, a scene on the Kent coast of southern England and depicting a windmill, with a copse of small trees at lower right and a haystack on the left. There are five impressions of this print in Te Papa's collection, donated to the National Art Gallery by Sir John Ilott and in memory of his friend, London dealer Harold Wright. Collectively, they represent the progressive states when Robins reworked and re-inked the plate.

See:

British Council, 'William Palmer Robins', http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/collection/artists/robins-william-palmer-1882/initial/a

'William Palmer Robins', http://www.wprobins.com/

Dr Mark Stocker  Curator, Historical International Art   May 2018