My Back Garden
- Artist: Sir George Clausen
- Date: exhibited 1940
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: oil
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is “My Back Garden” by Sir George Clausen. Painted in oil on canvas around 1940, the work captures a quiet corner of the artist’s own home at 61 Carlton Hill in north‑west London. The composition opens onto the house fronting a small garden, with a modest shed and a tree leaning against the walls. A clear morning sky dominates, its clouds painted with soft strokes that give a gentle light to the scene.
Clausen balances structure and nature: the neat lines of the brick wall meet the loose foliage of the garden, while his brushwork renders a subtle play of shadow across the hedges. The overall effect feels intimate—like standing just beyond the door, watching his own backyard in daylight.
The piece was first shown at the Royal Academy in 1940 and later reproduced in *Royal Academy Illustrated*. It was acquired by the Chantrey Bequest that year, now hanging in Tate Britain’s Living Gardens gallery. In short: “My Back Garden” is a quiet snapshot of domestic tranquility, painted with careful detail and light to bring out the everyday charm of an English garden.
See it in person
My Back Garden is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
