Holt Bridge on the River Dee

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Birmingham Museums Trust

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Artist

Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)

Title

Holt Bridge on the River Dee

Date

c.1761-62 (undated)

Medium

Black chalk. grey wash and white bodycolour on buff prepared paper, laid down on grey card

Dimensions

Metric: 335 x 523 mm
Imperial: 13 3/8 x 20 11/16 in.

Collection

Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery. To license images click here.

Accession Number

1948P46

Wilson Online Reference

D358

Exhibited

Worthing 1960 (2); London 1973-74 (36); Arts Council in collaboration with Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, British Watercolours 1760-1930, from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, 1981 (1); Tercentenary 2014 (74)

Provenance

Paul Sandby, his sale, 3 May 1811 (97 - View on the Banks of the Dee in Cheshire), bt Thane together with In the Garden at Lericci, for £9-10s; William Esdaile; Prof. J. Isaacs; Spink & Sons, London; bt by Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery, 1948

Signature/inscription

Signed lower left corner: RW [the R reversed]

Collectors' marks

[1] Lower left corner: Paul Sandby (Lugt 2112)
[2] WE No 2354

Verso inscriptions

[1] Lower centre, pencil: - Holt + Farndon showing the Old Bridge
[2] Lower left pencil: Bought by William Esdaile 1811. Bought at W.E.'s sale by J.A.
[3] Lower left corner, black ink in Esdaile's hand: 1811 Paul Sandby's sale WE N2354
[4] Lower left centre, black ink in Esdaile's hand: Wilson
[5] Lower right, pencil: P46'48

Labels

[1] In file from undated exhibition: National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
[2] From Spink and Son - mentions note in pencil, verso, 'Bought at W. Esdaile's by J. K.A.'

Related Subjects

Paul Sandby watercolour, Christie's 17 November 1981 (98); Christie's 25 April 1995 (13)

Related Paintings

P110 Holt Bridge on the River Dee, The National Gallery, London

Critical commentary

This drawing corresponds closely to P110 Holt Bridge on the River Dee, National Gallery, London. with the foreground figures the only significant change in the composition. As Robin Simon has observed, the drawing is unusual in Wilson's later work in being both highly finished and also closely related to an oil painting. Its precise purpose, therefore, remains something of an enigma.

Previous Cat/Ref Nos

46'48

Bibliography

Ford 1951, pp. 36, 62, no. 70; WGC, p. 175, pl. 36c; Parris 1973, p. 31; Egerton 1998, rev. 2000, pp. 328-29, fig. 1; Simon 1998; Wilson and Europe 2014, p. 261

More Information

Paul Sandby, the first recorded owner, greatly admired Wilson and latterly bought drawings from him above their asking price in order to relieve his poverty in old age.

Updated by Compiler

2016-12-06 00:00:00

Holt Bridge on the River Dee

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