Harbour Scene

Harbour Scene
Harbour Scene
Harbour Scene
National Museum Wales, Cardiff
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Harbour Scene
Date
Dated lower right: 1753
Medium
Black chalk and stump with white heightening on grey laid paper; some heightening of figures in black ink
Dimensions
Metric: 210 x 177 mm
Imperial: 8 3/16 x 6 15/16 in.
Accession Number
NMW A 5763
Wilson Online Reference
D218
Description
Two figures are seen on a jetty, with bundles nearby. A boat approaches them from the left. In the middle distance on the left is a large classical building with a round tower.
Exhibited
London 1925 (97 - Classical Landscape); Birmingham 1948-49 (69); London 1949 (68); Kenwood 1974 (150); London, Cardiff and New Haven 1982-83 (29)
Provenance
James Pyke Thompson; Clothier Sale, Penarth; given to the Museum by Barry Eisteddfod Fund, 30 June 1921
Signature/inscription
Signed lower left in ink: R.W.f.
Verso inscriptions
[1] Lower left pencil: illegible marks
Critical commentary
An idyllic, atmospheric study of a port in the evening, concentrating on the sunset effect, this was probably drawn in Venice (though by 1753 Wilson was based in Rome).. David Solkin noted the comparison of the simple design with the calm seaports of Claude-Joseph Vernet, who lived in Rome from 1734 to 1753, was particularly popular with British patrons and encouraged Wilson to concentrate on landscape rather than portraiture.
Bibliography
Ford 1951, pp. 25 & 58, pl. 47; Cardiff 1961, pp. 16-17; Solkin 1982, pp. 160-61; L. Meyer, Les Paysages Anglais, Paris, 1992