This wonderful painting was purchased for the princely sum of £220 at the RA in 1945 by Sir George Etherton, and it passed by descent within his family until it was acquired in 2011 by Austin Wormleighton, author of A Painter Laureate - Lamorna Birch and his circle. Sir George had dutifully kept the 1945 RA catalogue and his correspondence from Birch, including Birch's stamped receipt of sale, and this superb provenancial record will accompany the painting when sold. A slip of paper in Birch's hand gives the artist's own title as February: In My Garden, Lamorna. The painting depicts the garden beside the stream at Birch's small studio in Lamorna Valley. It is from here that the stream tumbles into Lamorna Cove a quarter of mile away. In the middle distance we can see Lamorna Cove and Carn Du, a dramatic granite promotory that marks the eastern edge of the cove, and the start of the cliff path towards Mousehole. To the right in the foreground a woodman is sawing through thick tree branches and building a shelter, which Birch mentions in his hand written letter thanking Sir George for his purchase. Birch had three studios in the valley, but the small studio, once a stable, was his favourite. It was at the spot depicted in this painting that Birch often took a restbite from painting to fly-fish for trout. Birch's home, Flagstaff Cottage, can be seen through the trees in the background of the composition. 

Birch was one of the most successful artists of his generation and was exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1893 onward with a total of 237 pictures shown by the Academy over the course of his career. February, My Garden, Lamorna was one of 6 works exhibited at the RA Summer Exhibition in 1945 alone. Birch confirms in his letter to Sir George that all 6 had sold. Birch's consistent success there led to him being elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1926, and a full Royal Academician (RA) in 1934. 

A wonderful Royal Academy work and composition of what was undoubtedly one of Lamorna Birch's favourite spots in the world, accommodating his dual passions of painting and fishing on his doorstep in his beloved Lamorna Valley, with the Cove and sea below in full view.