Coastal Scene

Coastal Scene
Coastal Scene
Coastal Scene
The Trustees of the British Museum
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Coastal Scene
Date
c.1751 (undated)
Medium
Red and black chalk on paper
Dimensions
Metric: 114 x 184 mm
Imperial: 4 1/2 x 7 1/4 in.
Accession Number
1881,0212.47
Wilson Online Reference
D91
Description
There are inlets with overhanging cliffs to the right and in the background. Set back on the foremost cliff is a tower, and another appears on a distant promontory. In front at the left are some rocks on which two men are standing. There are two others in a boat to the right, and more boats can be seen under the cliffs.
Exhibited
London 1949 (115b); London, Cardiff and New Haven, 1982-83 (15); Tercentenary 2014 (7)
Provenance
Given by John Deffett Francis, February 1881
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Techniques and materials
The mixture of red and black chalk is unusual for Wilson but the drawing may be seen as an exercise in the basics of rococo landscape design
Related Works by Other Artists
Claude-Joseph Vernet, Seashore, Hermitage, St Petersburg
Critical commentary
This is one of a number of apparently fantastic landscapes produced by Wilson during his first year in Italy. He arrived in Venice in October or November 1750 and stayed there for about a year. The drawing may have been executed in Venice itself or soon afterwards, during his journey south to Rome, but in any case it is not likely to be topographical. As noted by Solkin, the use of different colours, unusual for Wilson, here produces a thoughtful arrangement of chiaroscuro so as to form a decorative pattern within the conventions of rococo landscape design. The composition in general terms bears some resemblance to Seashore and similar paintings by Claude-Joseph Vernet, who was to become a major influence on Wilson's development as a landscape painter in Rome.
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
851/11 (30)
Bibliography
Binyon 51(b); Solkin 1982, p. 154; Wilson and Europe 2014, pp. 210-11