James Duffield Harding

The son of an artist, Harding took up his father's vocation at an early age. He was known for the most part as a painter in watercolour and had become a full member of the Watercolour Society by 1822. John Ruskin, the leading Victorian art critic and an aspiring artist, was a great admirer of Harding's picturesque naturalism, and studied his drawing style. To date his work has not been given the appreciation it so richly deserves.

Perhaps this is because Harding was primarily known as a teacher and published several model books which were the most popular "How To" books of his generation. He took advantage of the commercialization of lithography during the 1820s and its ability to replicate drawings on stone. He used the medium to create lithographic drawing manuals which were used in England and abroad and had a major influence in Europe and North America.

His technique, subject matter, and compositional structure are rooted in the English concept of the Picturesque popularized by William Gilpin in the late 18th century, which was to have such a profound influence on the French landscape in the 1840s, notably at Barbizon. He advocated a soft, painterly technique which perfectly suited plein air naturalism.