This early 20th-century oil painting by British artist Joseph Walter West (1860-1933) depicts a view of Rievaulx Abbey.It’s a bitterly cold morning in North Yorkshire as the mediaeval ruins of Rievaulx Abbey peer from beyond hawthorn trees. It’s May and the hawthorns are in blossom, creating a resplendent wall of silvery abundance - echoing a blanket of ground frost.West was in his sixties when he came here, probably travelling from his home in Middlesex to undertake various studies. His career was well-established by this point with numerous works shown at Britain’s more prestigious venues. In 1925, this particular piece was hung at the ‘New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition’, which attracted over 3.2 million visitors, more than double the country’s population.In an obituary, a fellow artist described him as a ''rather shy and reserved'' man ''whose whole outlook on life was a reflection of his personal integrity and conscientiousness''. With this in mind, on...