Harbour Scene

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Harbour Scene

National Museum Wales, Cardiff

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Artist

Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)

Title

Harbour Scene

Date

Dated lower right: 1753

Medium

Black chalk and stump with white heightening on grey laid paper; some heightening of figures in black ink

Dimensions

Metric: 210 x 177 mm
Imperial: 8 3/16 x 6 15/16 in.

Collection

National Museum Wales, Cardiff. To license image, click here.

Accession Number

NMW A 5763

Wilson Online Reference

D218

Description

Two figures are seen on a jetty, with bundles nearby. A boat approaches them from the left. In the middle distance on the left is a large classical building with a round tower.

Exhibited

London 1925 (97 - Classical Landscape); Birmingham 1948-49 (69); London 1949 (68); Kenwood 1974 (150); London, Cardiff and New Haven 1982-83 (29)

Provenance

James Pyke Thompson; Clothier Sale, Penarth; given to the Museum by Barry Eisteddfod Fund, 30 June 1921

Signature/inscription

Signed lower left in ink: R.W.f.

Verso inscriptions

[1] Lower left pencil: illegible marks

Critical commentary

An idyllic, atmospheric study of a port in the evening, concentrating on the sunset effect, this was probably drawn in Venice (though by 1753 Wilson was based in Rome).. David Solkin noted the comparison of the simple design with the calm seaports of Claude-Joseph Vernet, who lived in Rome from 1734 to 1753, was particularly popular with British patrons and encouraged Wilson to concentrate on landscape rather than portraiture.

Bibliography

Ford 1951, pp. 25 & 58, pl. 47; Cardiff 1961, pp. 16-17; Solkin 1982, pp. 160-61; L. Meyer, Les Paysages Anglais, Paris, 1992

Harbour Scene

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