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    300 years
    "London, Cardiff and New Haven 1982-83" Is linked to these Works of Art
    of 146

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

    A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - I)
    A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - I)
    A Summer Evening  ('On the Arno' - I)
    Private Collection / Photograph by Matthew Hollow
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    Artist
    Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
    Title
    A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - I)
    Date
    c.1764-65 (undated)
    Medium
    Oil on wood panel
    Dimensions
    Metric: 18.2 x 24.5 cm
    Imperial: 7 3/8 x 9 5/8 in.
    Collection
    Private Collection, London
    Wilson Online Reference
    P96C
    Description
    An Italianate rural landscape, with a high foreground overlooking a wide river with two trees and a fallen trunk to the left and two boys 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. This imaginative scene is framed on the left by graceful tree trunks, which punctuate the sky. The delicate light, conveyed through soft colouring, is reflected in the river and enhances the sense of space.
    Exhibited
    London, Cardiff and New Haven, 1982-83 (114)
    Provenance
    Sotheby Parke Bernet, London, 23 July 1980 (374); Private Collection, England
    Signature/inscription
    Unsigned; no inscription
    Versions
    See 'Links' tab
    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' - but only one other on panel.
    Bibliography
    WGC, p. 213, pl. 100a; Solkin 1982, pp. 222-23
    Link to WG Constable Archive Record
    WGC/1/1/178
    More Information
    The present painting was executed on a professionally prepared oak board, possibly of 17th century Dutch origin. Such reduced replicas may have been used by the artist to display his compositions to prospective clients.

    Work of Art

    Versions

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782) A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - I), National Galleries of Scotland
    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782) A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - I), Tyntesfield, National Trust
    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)and Studio, A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - I), Private Collection, Scotland
    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782) A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - I), Petworth House, National Trust
    • Richard Wilson and Studio A Summer Evening (On the Arno) - I, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782) A Summer Evening ('On the Arno'), Private Collection, England

    Exhibitions

    • London, Tate Gallery, Cardiff, National Museum of Wales, and New Haven, Conn., Yale Center for British Art, 3 November 1982 - 19 June 1983

    Documents

    • William George Constable, Richard Wilson
    • David Solkin, Richard Wilson: The Landscape of Reaction
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