My School and My Gospel

Name of traveller

Hubert von Herkomer (1849-1914)

Reason for travel

• study of landscape for painting

Date of travel

undated, but references in Herkomer's autobiography allow dating to April-May 1881

An under-gamekeeper of my friend's attended to us and did the cooking. He was quite a character, and his particular fancy was to keep all the tea-leaves from our tea-pot and boil them. If ever there was a poisonous drink it was the tea he consumed, taken from those boiled leaves. However, it was alcohol that killed him a few years later, and not the tea. (Herkomer 125)

Content

• art:
  • taking inspiration for painting from working on location for longer periods
  • camp consisted of bespoke tents with wooden floors and small painting huts that can be moved about
• people:
  • accompanied by his first wife and children
  • a messenger provides them with food and newspapers
• terrain: wild landscapes and the perils of Welsh weather
• compare with account in Herkomer's autobiography, The Herkomers
• click here to read the full account

Nationality of traveller

German

Language of publication

English

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

illustrated essay

Citation

Herkomer, Hubert von. My School and My Gospel. London: A. Constable, 1908. 123-9. Print.