Brian Irving (1931-2013)
"Sheep by a waterfall on the slopes of Buckden Pike, north of Kettlewell in Wharfedale"
Watercolour and gouache, 25.5cm by 33.5cm

Provenance: From the artist's estate

Born into a family of farmers in Bolton Abbey, Brian Irving farmed in Wharfedale, where he lived all his life.

His days were split in the farming community, never far from the flocks of sheep, the working horses with the plough, the sheepdogs with their masters looking up at the fells, across the fields or walking along the drystone walls. He sketched the myriad faces of this environment day in, day out, in pencil, charcoal and pastel. In watercolour he captured every nuance before him.

Many of Irving's pictures depict an age when labour by hand and horse was still prevalent before mechanization took over. An inspired, naturally gifted and self-taught artist, he captured as no other the essence of the Yorkshire Dales, its landscapes, the people and animals of the farming community.