The River Dee near Eaton Hall

The River Dee near Eaton Hall
The River Dee near Eaton Hall
The River Dee near Eaton Hall
Private Collection, North America
title=Credit line
Artist
Ascribed to Wilson
Title
The River Dee near Eaton Hall
Date
Undated
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 54.6 x 69.9 cm
Imperial: 21 1/2 x 27 1/2 in.
Collection
Private Collection, North America
Wilson Online Reference
P86D
Description
A river extends from the right foreground to the centre middle distance and is bordered on both sides by trees and bushes. In the foreground are three men in a boat and at a bend in the middle distance there is a cottage. Cows are grazing in a field to the right. Distant hills appear beyond and the sky is yellow with the sunset.
Provenance
Acquired by present owner c.1994
Signature/inscription
Unsigned, no inscription
Subject
The composition appears to be the first depiction of 'public' British scenery, as opposed to private estates, executed after Wilson's return from Italy. Writers from Elizabethan times, including Spenser and Milton, referred to an ancient tradition ascribing divine qualities to the Dee, prophetic for the fortunes of England and Wales, lying either side of it. Eaton Hall was the ancestral seat of Sir Richard, later 1st Earl Grosvenor and in a modern form is currently that of his descendant, the 7th Duke of Westminster. The setting may be partly imaginary, however, particularly in the present case, where the orientation of other versions is reversed.
Related Drawings
D354 The Banks of the River Dee near Eaton Hall Cheshire, Art Institute of Chicago, Leonora Hall Gurley Collection
Related Prints
E25 Thomas Morris after Wilson, The Banks of the River Dee near Eaton, Cheshire, The British Museum & other impressions
E71/1 John Young after Wilson, View on the River Dee, near Eaton Hall, The British Museum
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Critical commentary
The composition is in reverse compared with all the other versions. P86D is also the only version to include figures in a boat, and probably derives from Thomas Morris's print of 1774 (E25 and other impressions), which also shows these figures and is similarly orientated. Different figures in a boat do appear, however, in the related drawing D354.
Updated by Compiler
2022-01-18 00:00:00