Painting Study – Paul Falconer Poole – Shepherd Boys And Scarecrow

Preston, England
September 9, 2016 12:46pm CST
A painting from 1849, on display in the Harris Gallery, Preston. Oil on Canvas. Two boys relax from their duties as shepherds by a small haystack. One boy plays a flute and the other boy reclines, watching him with rapt attention. The scarecrow is not the kind we are used to from The Wizard Of Oz or Worzel Gummidge, but a dead crow carcass staked on a cane pole. It serves as a warning to the other carrion in the area who can be seen flying in formation in the background. The boys are oblivious to the representation of death that occupies so little of the canvas but changes the tone of the entire study. The boys also have a shotgun lying at the flute-players feet. The only online images of the painting I saw online are to commercial copy prints of it for sale. Youtube – Worzel Gummidge Song Arthur Chappell
Finale from The 1980 Worzel Gummidge Christmas special
4 people like this
2 responses
Jabo
@jaboUK (64346)
• United Kingdom
9 Sep 16
Seems odd to post a discussion like this without an actual picture of what you are talking about, but you've described it well enough for me to see it in my mind's eye.
1 person likes this
Arthur Chappell
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
9 Sep 16
@jaboUK the artist's name and painting title will take you to images of it but they are on commercial pages so it could breach TOS to post the link here
1 person likes this
@acelawrites
@acelawrites (19272)
• Philippines
9 Sep 16
A crow carcass on a pole can send chills. But the painting of the boy with the flute is a good one.
1 person likes this