Glenwood, Iowa

Clifford was born in Bristol and studied at the Royal Academy. He painted and exhibited landscapes, portraits and historical subjects in oil and watercolour and had many aristocratic patrons. He was influenced by Burne-Jones and the group of artists who exhibited at Dudley gallery and the present watercolour is typical of his dreamy aesthetic works which led Philip Burne-Jones to write of him: “I think perhaps he is to be seen at his very best in his landscapes, into which he has always infused an atmosphere of romance and beauty as attractive as it was peculiarly individual. I know no other man’s work quite like it.” In 1888 Clifford made an extraordinary visit to Hawaii and the present work, recording the 1888 landscape of Glenwood, Iowa, was executed during his return journey.