Summer Shower
1875/99
Medium
Brush and black and gray wash, over graphite, on off-white wove card
Dimensions
20.5 × 14.3 cm (8 1/8 × 5 11/16 in.)
Classification
ink or chalk wash
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
86042
Art Historical Context
"**Summer Shower**" (1875/99) by Alfred Sacheverel Coke captures a fleeting moment of weather with remarkable subtlety. Executed in brush and black-and-gray wash over graphite on off-white wove card, the modest sheet—measuring just 20.5 × 14.3 cm—belongs to the Art Institute of Chicago’s Prints and Drawings collection. The medium’s fluid washes allow delicate transitions from light to shadow, perfectly suited to suggesting the soft veil of summer rain. Wash drawings like this one enjoyed wide popularity in the late nineteenth century for their ability to convey atmosphere and mood with econom...