George Morland, British 1763-1804- Travellers in a wooded encampment; oil on canvas, indistinctly signed 'G Morland' (lower right), 45.7 x 61.5 cm. Provenance: Private Collection, UK. Note: The subject of the present work illustrates Morland's predilection for capturing pastoral simplicity, which is idealised without being excessively sentimentalised. Morland's approach was heavily informed by 17th-century Dutch and Flemish landscape painters, such as Jan van Goyen (1596-1656), alongside the scenes of rural life of Pieter Breughel the Younger (1564-1636). His technique and approach also place him firmly alongside his artistic contemporaries, with his atmospheric use of colours and loose brushwork revealing an affinity with the works of John Constable (1773-1837) and Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788). The present composition, featuring figures at rest in a wooded landscape, is echoed in a number of Morland's works, including one which sold at Christie's, London, on 2 December 2014 (lot 783) for £3,000.