Peter Stewart

were his links with the planet reigate area well last week i told you about his early career and how he and his family moved to reigate and red hill and his most famous work of a view you know so well even to this day also last week i told you about samuel's death this week in the third and final part of our look at the life and work of samuel palmer an horrific fire

were his links with the planet reigate area well last week i told you about his early career and how he and his family moved to reigate and red hill and his most famous work of a view you know so well even to this day also last week i told you about samuel's death this week in the third and final part of our look at the life and work of samuel palmer an horrific fire

a major crime, and how we still remember him to this day. So what was Samuel Palmer's legacy? He was largely forgotten about after his death. And in 1909, many of his works were destroyed by his surviving son, Alfred, who burned, quote, "...a great quantity of father's handiwork, knowing that no one would be able to make head or tail of what I had burned.

a major crime, and how we still remember him to this day. So what was Samuel Palmer's legacy? He was largely forgotten about after his death. And in 1909, many of his works were destroyed by his surviving son, Alfred, who burned, quote, "...a great quantity of father's handiwork, knowing that no one would be able to make head or tail of what I had burned.

I wished to save it from a more humiliating fate." The destruction included sketchbooks, notebooks and original works and lasted for days. Interest in his work was, if you excuse the phrase, rekindled in 1926 by the Victoria and Albert Museum. Since when Palmer has been accepted into the canon of great English landscape painters.

I wished to save it from a more humiliating fate." The destruction included sketchbooks, notebooks and original works and lasted for days. Interest in his work was, if you excuse the phrase, rekindled in 1926 by the Victoria and Albert Museum. Since when Palmer has been accepted into the canon of great English landscape painters.

He's said to have inspired many other artists, engravers and printmakers, including Graham Sutherland. All of the major museums and galleries hold collections of his work, including the V&A and the Ashmolean in Oxford. And there have been regular exhibitions of his paintings and etchings.

He's said to have inspired many other artists, engravers and printmakers, including Graham Sutherland. All of the major museums and galleries hold collections of his work, including the V&A and the Ashmolean in Oxford. And there have been regular exhibitions of his paintings and etchings.

A significant retrospective was mounted jointly by the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2005, 200 years after his birth, showcasing 170 of his watercolours, drawings, etchings and oils from public and private collections around the world. And an exhibition featuring Palmer ran in parallel to the huge William Blake exhibition at Tate Britain over 2019 and 2020.

A significant retrospective was mounted jointly by the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2005, 200 years after his birth, showcasing 170 of his watercolours, drawings, etchings and oils from public and private collections around the world. And an exhibition featuring Palmer ran in parallel to the huge William Blake exhibition at Tate Britain over 2019 and 2020.

In the 1930s, the maximum price of a Shoreham period drawing was around £50. Three sold in the early 1960s for around £6,000. In 2003, an auction at Christie's sold one for £587,000. And there was a big scandal in the 1970s when it was discovered that many of Palmer's works, 13, including one hung at the British Museum, were in fact fake.

In the 1930s, the maximum price of a Shoreham period drawing was around £50. Three sold in the early 1960s for around £6,000. In 2003, an auction at Christie's sold one for £587,000. And there was a big scandal in the 1970s when it was discovered that many of Palmer's works, 13, including one hung at the British Museum, were in fact fake.

Produced by the famous art forger Tom Keating, a picture restorer from Essex. Keating later claimed to have painted upwards of 80 fake Palmer's.

Produced by the famous art forger Tom Keating, a picture restorer from Essex. Keating later claimed to have painted upwards of 80 fake Palmer's.

So, what more of Palmer and his links locally? Well, there's an unofficial blue plaque at Palmer's birthplace at Surrey Square in London. His Grade 2 listed house at Shoreham, near Sevenoaks in Kent, where he lived from 1827 to 1835, has a plaque on it. And I'm here on Palmer Close, which is a cul-de-sac in Redhill built in the 1960s. It was named in Samuel's honour.

So, what more of Palmer and his links locally? Well, there's an unofficial blue plaque at Palmer's birthplace at Surrey Square in London. His Grade 2 listed house at Shoreham, near Sevenoaks in Kent, where he lived from 1827 to 1835, has a plaque on it. And I'm here on Palmer Close, which is a cul-de-sac in Redhill built in the 1960s. It was named in Samuel's honour.

So if you go up the A25 Nutfield Road out of Redhill, right down Redstone Hollow, it's just down here on the left. And his last home was here. The Chantry is what it's called today. Samuel Palmer knew it as First Hill Place. It's at Cronks Hill, just near High Trees Road. And it's Grade 2 listed because of the connection with Samuel Palmer.

So if you go up the A25 Nutfield Road out of Redhill, right down Redstone Hollow, it's just down here on the left. And his last home was here. The Chantry is what it's called today. Samuel Palmer knew it as First Hill Place. It's at Cronks Hill, just near High Trees Road. And it's Grade 2 listed because of the connection with Samuel Palmer.

And that was the life and legacy of local man Samuel Palmer, 1805 to 1881, landscape painter, etcher and printmaker, who created some of his greatest works while living locally. And on the 9th of October, 1824, Samuel Palmer visited William Blake at his home on the Strand, marking the start of a lifelong friendship and a significant inspiration for the young Palmer.

And that was the life and legacy of local man Samuel Palmer, 1805 to 1881, landscape painter, etcher and printmaker, who created some of his greatest works while living locally. And on the 9th of October, 1824, Samuel Palmer visited William Blake at his home on the Strand, marking the start of a lifelong friendship and a significant inspiration for the young Palmer.