Pastoral
- Artist: Frederick Cayley Robinson
- Date: 1923–4
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 903 x 1164 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the “Pastoral” by Frederick Cayley Robinson, an oil on canvas painted in 1923‑24. Robinson offers a quiet, nostalgic vision of the English countryside, a scene that feels almost dream‑like. A family in traditional dress leads a flock of sheep toward a watering hole, the landscape free of any industrial intrusion, with only a lone windmill marking the horizon. The young child holds a lamb and a silver birch, symbols that echo both Christian and Celtic motifs of rebirth and a hopeful new dawn.
Created in the aftermath of the Great War, the painting speaks to a yearning for escape from the harsh reality of modern life and a longing for a utopian agrarian future. Robinson’s gentle brushwork and warm palette emphasize the simplicity and peace of rural life, contrasting sharply with the turmoil of the era. The work was presented to Tate Britain by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest in 1924 and has been shown at several prestigious venues, including the Royal Academy and the National Gallery. Its composition, with the family’s movement toward water, invites viewers to reflect on themes of renewal, community, and the enduring beauty of pastoral landscapes.
See it in person
Pastoral 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.
