Boats on a wide River

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Boats on a wide River
Boats on a wide River
Boats on a wide River
Private Collection / Photograph by Matthew Hollow
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Boats on a wide River
Date
c.1755 (undated)
Medium
Black chalk with white highlights on grey-blue laid paper
Dimensions
Metric: 114 x 166 mm
Imperial: 4 1/2 x 6 9/16 in.
Collection
Private Collection, London
Wilson Online Reference
D386
Description
In the foreground a boat is plying a river with a fisherman or ferryman on board. Behind in the middle distance is a sailing boat. In the right distance the sun or moon is rising.
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Critical commentary
While the subject matter might suggest the Thames and a relationship to the composition of Wilson's early landscape, P10 Westminster Bridge under Construction, there is no evidence that Wilson drew in black chalk, heightened with white, on middle-toned paper before he encountered French landscape draughtsmen using this technique in Rome. It therefore seems more likely that the drawing dates from the mid-1750s or later.
Updated by Compiler
2017-04-25 00:00:00