Wilson Online Reference
Spencer-Longhurst 2012
Author
Paul Spencer-Longhurst
Title/Description
'All the Quality of his Pictures except the Colour': Richard Wilson's Drawings as Collectors' Items
Publisher
Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
Country
London, UK
Date of Publication
2012
Printed/Manuscript
Secondary published
Source Institution
The Paul Mellon Centre
More Information
Essay contained in Windows on that World: Essays on British Art presented to Brian Allen (pp. 51-80). The context and function of Wilson's drawings are outlined but the main purpose of the essay is to survey some of the major private collections of the drawings made over the two centuries or so betweeen Wilson's departure for Italy in 1750 and the publication of Brinsley Ford's seminal book [Ford 1951]. It also explores how such private collections have created and nourished public ones in Britain and the USA.