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    Return to "Witt" is linked to these Works 12 items
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    Landscape with a large Rock (The Marsden Rock)

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    Landscape with a large Rock (The Marsden Rock)
    Landscape with a large Rock (The Marsden Rock)
    Landscape with a large Rock (The Marsden Rock)
    The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London
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    Artist
    Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
    Title
    Landscape with a large Rock (The Marsden Rock)
    Date
    c.1752 (undated)
    Medium
    Black, brown and white chalk on light brown paper in old mount
    Dimensions
    Metric: 184 x 227 mm
    Imperial: 7 1/4 x 8 15/16 in.
    Collection
    The Courtauld Gallery, London. To license image, click here.
    Accession Number
    D.1952.RW.2846
    Wilson Online Reference
    D201
    Description
    Three figures stand before a rocky archway at the water's edge with a lengthy bridge distantly discernible to left and right
    Provenance
    Colnaghi; bt Sir Robert Clermont Witt in an exchange 1937; Witt Bequest 1952
    Signature/inscription
    Signed in black chalk lower left: R.W.f.
    Inscribed:
    [1] Lower centre, black ink: Wilson
    [2] Lower right, blotted black ink: Marsden Rock
    [3] Lower right corner, black ink: C & R [?]
    Collectors' marks
    [1] Recto lower left corner: Sir Robert Witt
    [2] Recto lower right: C & R [?]
    Subject
    Marsden Rock is a rock formation off the coast of South Shields, Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is a sea stack 30 metres (100 feet) high which lies approximately 91 metres (100 yards) off the main cliff face.
    Critical commentary
    The identification as Marsden Rock is problematic as Wilson is not known to have visited this region of northern England. It also raises questions as to the date of the drawing, which appears stylistically to be earlier rather than later in his career.
    More Information
    Marsden Rock is accessible on foot during low tide. In 1803 a flight of steps was constructed up the side but in 1911 a large section of the rock collapsed into the sea leaving it as an arch. Continued tidal erosion caused the arch itself to collapse in 1996, splitting the rock into two separate stacks, and the following year the smaller stack was declared unsafe and demolished. Today Marsden Rock is owned by the National Trust.
    Condition/Conservation
    The drawing has been laid down in the past and the reverse shows evidence of old glued paper
    Updated by Compiler
    2016-04-26 00:00:00

    Biographies

    • Sir Robert Clermont Witt (1872-1952)
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