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Art connoisseur, collector and accomplished amateur etcher, John Charles Robinson (1823-1914) was born in Nottingham, where he was also educated. He was brought up there by his grandfather, a bookseller, and, later, was sent for art-training to the studio of Michel Martin Drolling in Paris. There he spent much time in the Louvre, laying the foundation of his knowledge of Renaissance art. In 1847 he was appointed head master of the government school of art at Hanley, Staffordshire. In 1852 he became first superintendent of art collections of the South Kensington Museum, where he remained for seventeen years, and organised the circulation of works of art among provincial institutions.
Robinson's technical knowledge and artistic appreciation of the many branches of art were unusually wide and thorough, and his taste was in a extraordinary degree in advance of his time. Until his resignation in 1869, he was frequently employed in travelling for the museum in Italy and especially in Spain. With the small funds at his disposal he was able to acquire, at what would now be considered infinitesimal prices, a vast number of those works in marble, bronze, majolica and terracotta which quickly gave South Kensington a unique position at the time among the museums of Europe. On retiring from the public service he continued this important work as the adviser of eminent private collectors. As an instance of his wise purchases, he acquired for Sir Francis Cook in 1872 for £335 Hubert van Eyck's The Three Maries, which in 1927 was the gem of the Flemish exhibition in London. Robinson's own extensive collections included at one time or another, besides paintings, drawings and sketches, Greek gems, Renaissance jewellery, ivories, bronzes, Oriental porcelain, French furniture, Spanish and Italian embroideries and ancient Coptic fabrics. From 1882 to 1901 he was Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures. He was knighted in 1887.
In 1866, in conjunction with the Marquis d'Azeglio, Robinson founded the Fine Arts Club (afterwards the Burlington Fine Arts Club), and for fifteen years acted as its honorary secretary. He was a skillful etcher, excelling especially in his treatment of strong effects of light, and he joined with his lifelong friend, Sir Francis Seymour Haden, in founding the Royal Society of Painter Etchers. Unfortunately, beyond letters and articles in The Times, Nineteenth Century, and other journals, he left no written memorials other than catalogues of various collections, chief of which was the admirable catalogue raisonné of the Drawings by Michael Angelo and Raffaelle in the University Galleries at Oxford (1870). He was a fearless and outspoken critic, who nevertheless numbered many artists and experts among his personal friends.
Robinson spent the last years of his long life near Swanage, Dorset, which is close to the scene depicted here. In his catalogue of Robinson's prints, Arthur Hind notes, while discussing the vividly atmospheric quality of this etching, "We can see that the scraper and burnisher have been used to break up the straight etched lines making the rays of light coming from the sun; thus giving the effect of moving light and the haziness of dawn."
Nine Barrow Down is an elongated hill forming the northern ridge of the Purbeck Hills on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, England. The chalk down is part of the extensive Southern England Chalk Formation. The eastern end of the ridge, which carries the highest point, is also sometimes known as Godlingston Hill.
See:
The Annex Galleries, 'Nine Barrow Down', https://www.annexgalleries.com/inventory/detail/17507/John-Charles-Robinson/Nine-Barrow-Down-Isle-of-Purbec-Looking-Towards-St-Albans-Head
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 'Sir John Charles Robinson', https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.5362.htmlhttps://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.5362.html
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art May 2018