This early 20th-century autumnal oil painting by British artist Daniel Sherrin (1869-1940) depicts a rugged heath landscape under the glow of a setting sun.Sherrin was an accomplished painter of landscapes and maritime subjects. He spent the majority of his life in Seasalter, near Whitstable in Kent, where he became a local celebrity of repute. His father, John Sherrin RI RWS (1819-1896), was a painter of delicate still lifes in watercolour and trained by the distinguished William Henry Hunt (1790-1864). However, it�s unlikely that he provided any early tuition for his son as he actively dissuaded the young lad from entering the profession. As such, Sherrin was instead apprenticed to Peter Moore, a draper in Canterbury, while using any spare moment to sketch. It�s reported that he�d rise at 4am and complete a painting before breakfast.His artistic training beyond this point is unclear as several sources refer to him studying under Benjamin Williams Leader RA (1831-1923) although this is likely to be anecdotal rather than based on any facts. It�s plausible that he was actually self-taught and diligently studied from nature to hone his draughtsmanship.While still a teenager, Sherrin was offered a substantial contract by a significant picture dealer in London. Working rapidly, he could produce an extraordinary number of works to order - an attractive proposition. Several dealers sought his services and perhaps it�s fair to say that the speed of his production led to a raft of works, which failed to demonstrate his true ability. Given the right motivation, his landscapes were on a par with those of many leading contemporaries. Such was his talent, that his views have often been confused with Leader�s (and occasionally signed B. W. Leader).He had a skill for composition and often used tree-lined paths to guide the eye towards distant vanishing points, as we see here. And like Leader, his more accomplished pieces feature rutted cart tracks and shimmering l...