Sidney Richard Percy

Sidney Richard Percy painted the mountains and lakes of Britain with cattle grazing at the water’s edge and clouds moving over distant peaks. His scenes of North Wales, the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands are calm, detailed and bathed in soft light.

He was born in London into the Williams family of painters, and was taught by his father, Edward Williams. He took the name Percy to stand apart from his many painting relatives. He exhibited at the Royal Academy for decades, and Queen Victoria bought his View of Llyn Dulyn, North Wales. His work is in Tate, the Metropolitan Museum and National Museum Wales.

Cattle and Drovers on a Path, Styhead Pass, Cumberland is typical: animals in the foreground and a wide, luminous valley beyond.