George Finch Mason, 1850-1915, A Hunting Scene

George Finch Mason, known as Finch Mason, was born into an educated family his father taught at Eton and his son also attended the school  1860-64.  Finch Mason contributed to Punch, and was also a humorist. He work beautifully describes the world he lived in and his talent clear. He  paints some of the most delightful sporting country scenes of this period. His touch was as light as Frederick Herring’s; his use of colour better than most. When you see the landscape they lived in one can understand the world of sport and hunting. In those days there were massive parks, huge beautiful mansions, miles of open common, and vast herds of roe and red deer. Surrey was open country, from just outside London all was rivers an streams and rolling hills. These paintings have a lot to share with us, the beauty, the freedom, and the wilderness. All gone now. We are left with dead, polluted rivers, massive housing estates and overcrowding. I look back on those times with envy.