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    300 years
    Return to "Booth Notes Doc. 4" is linked to these Works 25 items
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    Solitude

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    Solitude
    Solitude
    Solitude
    National Museum Wales, Cardiff
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    Artist
    William Woollett (1735-1785) and William Ellis (1747-1810) after Wilson
    Title
    Solitude
    Date
    1777
    Medium
    Etching and engraving on laid paper
    Dimensions
    Metric: 552 x 441 mm
    Imperial: 21 3/4 x 17 3/8 in.
    Collection
    National Museum Wales, Cardiff. To license image, click here.
    Accession Number
    NMW A 11004
    Wilson Online Reference
    E44
    Description
    A sheltered pool is shown surrounded by rocky banks with a weeping willow on the left. There are two monks on the bank to the right, one sitting against a tree reading, and other monks can be seen praying around a cross erected in front of a small building, almost hidden in a forest in the background.
    Provenance
    Given by Major F. Treharne James, 1920
    Signature/inscription
    Lettered below the image:
    [1] Lower left: Richd. Wilson pinxt.
    [2] Lower right: Etched by W. Woollett and W. Ellis 1777
    Collectors' marks
    [1] Unidentified mark lower right centre next to lettering
    Subject
    Later states have lines from James Thomson's The Seasons: Summer added (1730 edition, lines 439-447, slightly modified ; 1746 edition, lines 513-521; later editions, lines 516-524):

    'Still let me pierce into the midnight Depth
    Of yonder Grove, of wildest, largest Growth:
    That, forming high in Air a woodland Quire,
    Nods o'er the Mount beneath. At every Step,
    Solemn, and slow, the Shadows blacker fall,
    And all is awful listening Gloom around.
    These are the Haunts of Meditation,
    These the Scenes Where antient Bards th'inspiring Breath,
    Extatic, felt: and from this World retir'd'.
    Related Drawings
    D359 Solitude, Study for a Picture, c.1762, The British Museum (1881,0212.3)
    Related Prints
    E57 Christian Duttenhofer after Wilson,Solitude, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven
    Versions
    See 'Links' tab
    Related Paintings
    P114 Solitude - I, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea
    P114A Solitude - I, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
    P114B Solitude - I , Private Collection Ireland
    P115 Wilson and Studio, Solitude - II, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
    Critical commentary
    The composition is very close indeed to that of the Duttenhofer print E57.
    Previous Cat/Ref Nos
    Old Accession Number: 20.490
    1920.4 Gift
    Bibliography
    Booth Notes Doc. 4; Booth Notes Doc. 7; Edwards 1808, p. 88; Fagan 1885, p. 45, cat. XCIX, 2nd State
    Link to WG Constable Archive Record
    WGC/1/1/30
    Condition/Conservation
    2nd state - before main lettering

    Work of Art

    Drawings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), Solitude, Study for a Picture, The British Museum

    Prints

    • Christian Duttenhofer (1778-1846) after Wilson,Solitude, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven

    Versions

    • William Woollett (1735-1785) and William Ellis (1747-1810)after Wilson, Solitude, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven
    • William Woollett (1735-1785) and William Ellis (1747-1810)after Wilson, Solitude, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
    • William Woollett (1735-1785) and William Ellis (1747-1810)after Wilson, Solitude, The British Museum
    • William Woollett (1735-1785) and William Ellis (1747-1810)after Wilson, Solitude, Royal Academy of Arts, London
    • William Woollett (1735-1785) and William Ellis (1747-1810)after Wilson, Solitude, National Museum Wales, Cardiff
    • William Woollett (1735-1785) and William Ellis (1747-1810)after Wilson, Solitude, National Museum Wales, Cardiff

    Paintings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), Solitude I, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea
    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), Solitude I, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), Solitude I, Private Collection Ireland
    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782) and Studio, Solitude - II, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

    Biographies

    • William Ellis (1747-1810)
    • William Woollett (1735-1785)
    • Major F. Treharne James (1861-1942)

    Documents

    • Edward Edwards, Anecdotes of Painters who have resided or been born in England; with critical Remarks on their Productions
    • Louis Fagan, A Catalogue Raisonné of the engraved Works of William Woollett
    • Benjamin Booth, Unpublished Notes, Document 4: Biographical Fragments and abandoned List of Works
    • Benjamin Booth, Unpublished Notes, Document 7: List of Prints after Wilson's Paintings
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