A scene in the woods at Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire

James Bourne (1773-1854) was a British watercolour artist, drawing master and later Methodist minister. Born in Lincolnshire, Bourne moved between London and Manchester before finally settling down in London in 1796. With an interest in the Methodist Movement and offers for an army commission and a place at St. John’s College, Cambridge, his decision to become an artist appears to be a rather sudden choice. However, it offered him stability and the means to support his family, especially after being employed as drawing master by the Countess of Sutherland and Lord Spencer in London.

Bourne started exhibiting at the Royal Academy from 1800 and undertook regular sketching tours within Britain, including to the Lake District, Surrey, Kent and Yorkshire. This work, showing parts of the woodlands of the Bolton Abbey estate, would have most likely been completed on one of those trips. The trees are a dominating feature, and the only bright colour can be found on the clothing of the seated figure in the centre. During the later years of his career, Bourne’s palette became increasingly monochromatic.