Hardy’s paintings appealed to wealthy manufacturers in the Midlands and Northern England who enjoyed his idealised depictions of a rustic, pre-industrialised past.  

Hardy’s The Dismayed Artist (1866) describes the sort of problems encountered by artists who depicted rural life.

Two men, said to be Hardy and his brother, have just arrived from London; the luggage labels on the easel and suitcase indicate that  they have travelled by train to nearby Staplehurst. 

Hardy’s look of surprise hints at the gulf between outsiders and locals. The artist was intending to continue his painting of the old-style hearth but, in his absence, the family have started coating its antique features with lime-wash. 

However, Hardy depicts the countrywoman sympathetically, providing an image of diligence that would have appealed to his industrialist patrons. 

The sales correspondent from The Times was not so sympathetic. He entitled it ‘The Distressed Artist on beholding the havoc made by his domestics in his studio’ - an interpretation that would have dismayed Hardy much more than the lime-wash.

You can read the full article on the Public Catalogue Foundation's website

Mary Rose Rivett-Carnac is a Copyright Officer at the Public Catalogue Foundation.