Hayfield

Hemsley left an apprenticeship as an architect to become a painter. His work follows the English 19th century genre tradition and was probably also influenced by his visits to Germany and Holland. His favourite subject was children at play; he gave his works titles such as A Pinch from Granny's Box and Sunday Morning, a New Hat. Hayfield is a sunny picture of threatened innocence showing a child receiving her first experience of drink from the hands of an adult. Other elements in the picture contribute to a wider theme: the dog's investigation of the lunch basket hints that we are witness to the taking of forbidden fruit whilst the scythe is an ancient symbol of the passage of time.