View on the Thames near Twickenham

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Artist

Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)

Title

View on the Thames near Twickenham

Date

c.1762 (undated)

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

Metric: 62.7 x 93.2 cm
Imperial: 24 11/16 x 36 11/16 in.

Collection

Private Collection, England

Wilson Online Reference

P89D

Description

The view is taken from the south side of the Thames near Richmond, and shows the prospect upstream to Eel Pie Island, Twickenham, with the pediment of Marble Hill House visible through the trees to the right.

Exhibited

SA 1762 (133 - a version)

Provenance

Anon. sale, Sotheby's 13 July 1949 (92), bt F. Sabin (£48.0.0); [...] Sotheby's 4 July 2001 (68); Private Collection, USA; Leland Little Auctions, Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278, USA., 11 June 2022 (238); Private Collection, England

Signature/inscription

Unsigned

Verso inscriptions

Lower part of left vertical section of frame: indistinguishable handwritten figures

Labels

[1] Upper left corner of stretcher, modern Sotheby's handwritten label: 'LOT 68 4-7-01 BRIT'
[2] Upper right corner of stretcher: round Sotheby's label with handwritten details: Lot No 68 | 4-7-01

Subject

One of the most popular of Wilson's English subjects. The region had come to acquire an elevated cultural status by the third quarter of the 18th century, notably from the presence and publications of Alexander Pope, who made Twickenham his home from 1719 until his death in 1744. As a Palladian villa, Marble Hill House could claim kinship to both the great Palladio and the architectural heritage of ancient Rome.

Related Prints

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

Versions

See 'Links' tab

Related Works by Other Artists

Peter Tillemans (c.1684-1734), View of the Thames at Twickenham, c.1720-25, Richmond upon Thames Borough Art Collection, Orleans House, London

Critical commentary

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.

Bibliography

WGC p. 188, pl. 57a (version 8?); DHS under 102 and chapter IV.

More Information

Marble Hill House was built for Henrietta Howard, mistress of King George II and was later occupied by Mrs Fitzherbert, mistress and morganatic wife of King George IV.

Condition/Conservation

Some blue overpaint appears in the sky between the two trees to the left. Conserved 2022 by Simon Folkes.

Updated by Compiler

15/11/2022

View on the Thames near Twickenham

Work of Art

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