λ Simon Palmer (British b. 1956) The Barge of Fools Ink and watercolour Signed twice (lower right) and titled (lower left) 84 x 60cm (33 x 23½ in.) Provenance: Property from a Private English Collector Simon Palmer was born in Yorkshire in 1956, growing up in Bromley and attending Reigate Art School. When visiting Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, he fell in love with the landscape that has become the inspiration for his watercolours. Palmer's paintings capture a fairy tale-like atmosphere grounded in the rural scenery of Yorkshire. From the narrow lanes, railway bridges, the drystone walls and winding fencing, stone churches and farms, ancient trees and new saplings and, on the horizon, the distant moors waiting to claim back the domesticated land. Starting with the familiar landscape of Wensleydale, Palmer has created an illusion which hovers on the brink of reality, connecting his much loved home and the world of his imagination. He has exhibited extensively since 1980, at the Mercer Art Gallery and the Portland gallery. He has also held ten one-man exhibitions in London with JHW Fine Art, and written three books including 'Pebbles on a Beach' (1990). Palmer won the 2007 Turner/Windsor and Newton Watercolour Award at Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Other notable exhibitions include the National Trust Centenary exhibition, British Landscape Painting in the Twentieth Century.