A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - II)

A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - II)
A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - II)
A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - II)
Tate, London 2014
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - II)
Date
After 1764 (undated)
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 44.5 x 54.6 cm
Imperial: 17 1/2 x 21 1/2 in.
Accession Number
N02647
Wilson Online Reference
P97A
Description
An Italianate rural landscape, with a high foreground overlooking a wide river with a fallen tree trunk to the left and a boy fishing with a seated girl and her baby to the right. In the middle distance is a broad stretch of water with a rocky cliff in the background to the right, surmounted by a castle. There is a shallow bank to the left, with hazy plains and mountains in the distance. The delicate light, conveyed through soft colouring, is reflected in the river and enhances the sense of space.
Exhibited
Cardiff, Manchester and London, 2003-4 (15 - River View, On the Arno)
Provenance
Bequeathed by George Salting, 1910; transferred to the Tate in 1919
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Techniques and materials
There are pentimenti round the castle, upper right
Related Prints
E72/9 Thomas Hastings after Wilson, View in Italy, The British Museum (1854,0708.66) and other impressions
Versions
See 'Links' tab
A version was offered at Bonhams, Knightsbridge sale 29 April 2015 (217)
Critical commentary
Wilson spent much of the 1750s in Italy and produced paintings of Italian scenes for the rest of his life. However, he also painted views of his native Wales and it is sometimes difficult to be sure, as with this painting, whether he meant to evoke the Arno, the Po, the Tiber or the Dee valley. The composition is similar to that found in many of his views, combining topographical detail, often studied in North Wales and Cheshire, with some artistic licence. There are many surviving versions of this picture, an archetypal 'good breeder'.
Bibliography
WGC, p. 214, under pl. 100b; Sumner & Smith 2003, p. 125 repr.
Condition/Conservation
Diimensions framed: 66.2 x 76.5 cm (26 x 30 1/16 in.)