The view is taken from the south side of the Thames near Petersham and shows the prospect upstream towards Eel Pie Island, Twickenham, with the pediment of Marble Hill House visible through the trees to the right. In the foreground a man is leaning against a tree, watching two companions bathing, with another swimmer seated next to him. To their left a laden barge is sailing downstream while two horses and a rider head in the opposite direction on the near bank. A man is sitting before a wall under trees in the left middle ground, and in the sky the afternoon sun breaks through fleecy clouds, which are reflected in the water.

John Waterloo Wilson (1815-1883), Avenue Hoche 3, Paris, by 1873; Paris, Hôtel Drouot (Pillet, Durand-Ruel, Feral, salles 8 & 9), 27 & 28 April 1874 (16) sold for 1500 francs; [...] William Congreve Russell, King's Heath, Worcestershire [?]; Anne & Elizabeth Joyce; Sotheby's London, 8 April 1992 (73); Sotheby's London, 4 July 2001 (68); bt William Thuillier, 180, New Bond Street, London W.1, from whom bt for the present owner.

The original ground preparation is pale pink.

[1] Upper horizontal stretcher bar, pencil: no. 10
[2] Left vertical member of frame, black ink framed with outline: 14019A

[1] Upper right corner of stretcher, old thick white label, pencil: I / 3 [?]

 

E72/31 Thomas Hastings after Wilson, On the Thames, The British Museum (1854,0708.88)

 

The large number of versions confirms this as one of Wilson's most popular English subjects. Twelve copies dating from the 18th and 19th centuries have also been identified.

Exh. cat., Collection de M. John W. Wilson : exposée dans la Galerie du Cercle Artistique et Littéraire de Bruxelles, Paris 1873, p. 29 as Sion-House; A. Bury, 'In Quest of Richard Wilson, Father of English Landscape Painting', Connoisseur, September 1946, p. 7 (repr.); Bury 1947, pl. 39; WGC, p. 188, pl. 57a (version 6)

 

Kate Lowry has noted: The original canvas is a medium weight, simple weave linen and this has been relined onto a similar weight linen canvas with glue-paste adhesive. The seven-member stretcher has provision for keying out and is not original. It dates from the lining, possibly late nineteenth century. Original turnovers were probably removed at time of lining. The original ground preparation is pale pink in colour. This painting is the same size as P89, the version at Norwich Castle Museum and the composition is almost identical. The main differences are the addition of flowers in the left foreground and extra swans near the river bank at the far right. The treatment of the foliage of the trees on the left is less characteristic of Wilson in this version than the same features in the Norwich painting. However the branches of the large tree at the right of the composition have clearly been painted directly onto the pink ground rather than over the sky, in a way which is characteristic of Wilson's painting style. Whilst the right hand tree foliage is loosely handled that of the left hand trees is much heavier and more fussy with multiple small brush strokes of a single shade of dark green. Under UV light extensive retouching is visible in the river either side of the main tree trunk and around the horses and rider. It is possible that a pentiment of another rider has been painted out here. There are retouches around the two main figures strengthening their legs and trousers. However their heads are not retouched. There is a large area of retouching in the bright clouds of the centre sky and in the sky above the right hand tree where several streaks of darker grey look out of place in normal light and may be associated with a possible damage to the support. The evidence suggests that Wilson had a hand in this painting but that another hand may have been involved in the foreground and trees at the left of the composition.

23/03/2021