Gertler described this work as his first ‘serious’ landscape. It was painted, using a mahl stick and sable brushes (to achieve greater precision), during a holiday to Pett Level, near Hastings, in July 1914.... Writing to Brett of his admiration for the ‘splendid’ countryside, Gertler told her that he was ‘employed on a little landscape in which I am very interested. It is a little Black and White Cottage with a garden in front.’ In a letter to Carrington he elaborated further, describing the background as ‘a dull sky – silver and lead’ and the foreground as ‘a golden elder seen through [ . . . ] pampas grass. The picture finishes up at the bottom with a dark green gate and fence.’ The pampas grass he considered ‘a strikingly beautiful plant. It is made up of long, elastic and needle-like leaves which are most graceful. It looks most beautiful when it flirts with the wind – then it looks like a ruffled head of hair.’... (https://www.piano-nobile.com/artists/32-mark-gertler/works/356/)