The Thames at Maidenhead, summer 1919. Lavery's duties as an Official War Artist had just ended, and after four years spent painting munitions factories and troop convoys, he turned his eye back to something purely joyful.
The Path by the River, Maidenhead was painted during a weekend at Taplow Court, hosted by Lady Desborough, in countryside Lavery had first explored just before the war. The brushwork here is looser and freer than almost anything else in his output — dappled sunlight falling through trees onto a path where distant figures walk, one in a bright red hat. Critics have since linked its handling to the later work of Monet and Renoir, and its sun-warmed palette even anticipates the Riviera scenes Lavery would paint a few years later.
By his own account, Lavery wasn't chasing any deeper meaning here — only responding, as he put it, to “new beauties of design.” After four years of war work, that impulse alone was enough.
Sir John Lavery (1856–1941) was born in Belfast, trained in Glasgow and Paris, and became one of the most celebrated painters of his era. His work hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland, the Tate, and major collections worldwide.
Sizes & Format
40x50 cm / 16x20″
Available framed (black, white, wood) or unframed
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Archival matte paper, 250gsm (110lb), acid-free and FSC-certified — off-white, uncoated. Framed prints: solid oak or ash wood frame, 20mm thick, with shatterproof protective glazing. Ready to hang, hanging kit included. Unframed prints up to A4 ship flat; larger sizes ship rolled in a protective tube.
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