The Ruined Arch in Kew Gardens

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The Ruined Arch in Kew Gardens
The Ruined Arch in Kew Gardens
The Ruined Arch in Kew Gardens
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
The Ruined Arch in Kew Gardens
Date
c.1760-62 (undated)
Medium
Red, black and white chalk on blue paper
Dimensions
Metric: 248 x 334 mm
Imperial: 9 3/4 x 13 1/8 in.
Accession Number
WA1971.53
Wilson Online Reference
D357/1
Description
A monumental stone arch with broken profile and surmounted by a classical urn, seen slightly obliquely between a bank with undergrowth on the right and poplars on the left
Exhibited
London 1973-74 (34); Baltimore 1979-80 (57); London, Cardiff and New Haven, 1982-83 (99)
Provenance
The Revd Robert Finch; bequeathed to the Taylor Institution, University of Oxford, 1830; transferred to the Ashmolean, 1971
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Subject
Kew Gardens lie on the opposite side of the Thames from Syon House. Kew Park was enlarged and embellished by Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales from 1759, when the arch was built 'to make a passage for carriages and cattle, over one of the principal walks of the garden' [and] 'to imitate antiquity'. (W. Chambers, 'A Description of the Palace and Gardens at Kew, the seat of the Princess Dowager of Wales', Royal Magazine, September 1763, p. 154).
Related Drawings
D357A A Ruin, Arch at Kew Gardens, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea
D357/2 Sketch of an Urn, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Related Prints
E72/17 Thomas Hastings after Wilson,Villa Borghese, The British Museum (1854,0708.74) and other impressions
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Related Paintings
P108 The Ruined Arch in Kew Gardens, Private Collection, England
P108A Kew Gardens, Surrey, Ruined Arch, Gloucester City Museum and Art Gallery
Critical commentary
This is a study for P108 The Ruined Arch in Kew Gardens Private Collection, London and P108A (Gloucester City Museum and Art Gallery). A related drawing, D357A (Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea) is probably a development of the paintings. The reverse of the present drawing is D357/2 Sketch of an Urn, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. A related etching of 1822 by Thomas Hastings (E72/17) incorrectly located the arch at the Villa Borghese, Rome.
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
1909
Bibliography
Parris 1973, pp. 30-31; Brown 1982, p. 669-70, no. 1909, pls 556 & XL; Solkin 1982, pp. 211-12
Updated by Compiler
2016-12-06 00:00:00