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

A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - II)
A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - II)
A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - II)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782) and Studio
Title
A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - II)
Date
c.1764 (undated)
Dimensions
Metric: 101.9 x 127.6 cm
Imperial: 40 1/8 x 50 1/4 in.
Accession Number
51.449
Wilson Online Reference
P97B
Description
An Italianate rural landscape, with a high foreground overlooking a wide river with a fallen tree trunk to the left and a boy 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. The delicate light, conveyed through soft colouring, is reflected in the river and enhances the sense of space.

Exhibited
RA Old Masters 1882 (249 - lent by James Price); London, Franco-British Exhibition 1908 (62 - lent by G. Harland-Peck)
Provenance
James Price; his sale 15 June 1895 (67 View on the Arno); bt Wallace or Wallis; George Harland-Peck, London; his sale, Christie's 25 June 1920 (146 A View of Tivoli); bt William B. Paterson; 1920 William B. Richardson (buying through Paterson); bequest of William K. Richardson, 8 March 1951
Signature/inscription
Unsigned, undated no inscription
Techniques and materials
The figures are finely painted and quite sensitive. The ripples on the surface of the water suggest the style of Joseph Wright of Derby. The background at the left is sketchy. The technique of the horizon is not convincingly Wilsonesque. The tree above the foreground stump is painted over the river. The reflections of the group of trees in the middle distance centre are detailed but painted with no great finesse. The ground of the foreground is dark and that of the sky is light.
Related Prints
E72/9 Thomas Hastings after Wilson, View in Italy, The British Museum (1854,0708.66) and other impressions
Versions
See 'Links' tab
A version was offered at Bonhams, Knightsbridge sale 29 April 2015 (217)
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'.
Bibliography
Sir I. Spielmann, Souvenir of the Fine Art Section, Franco-British Exhibition 1908, Part I. - British Section: Deceased British Artists (oil) no. 62, repr. opp. p. 16; WGC, p. 214, pl. 100b (other version 1, amalgamated with his last entry)
Link to WG Constable Archive Record
Condition/Conservation
Heavily flattened craquelure overall, especially in the sky as a result of relining. Some infilled damages by the tree at the left.