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Tyntesfield, National Trust
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
A Summer Evening ('On the Arno' - I)
Date
c.1764
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 76.2 x 121.9 cm
Imperial: 30 x 48 in.
Accession Number
20943
Wilson Online Reference
P96A
Description
In the foreground are two boys, the one on the left is lying down with a fishing rod and the other, standing on the right, is preparing to cast his baited line. Behind them, a dark cave is reflected in the water, while a town surrounding a castle stands at the top of the hill. Further to the left is a stretch of wooded landscape and behind this, more water and distant mountains can be seen.
Provenance
According to the National Trust inventory entry, this work was, 'Painted to Mr Ingram of Colne'; Frost & Reed, London; Shepherd Brothers, bt 1911 by George Abraham Gibbs (1873-1931) for £480; bt 2002 by the National Trust from the estate of the late George Richard Lawley Gibbs, 2nd Baron Wraxall (1928-2001) with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the National Art Collections Fund and donations from members and supporters of the National Trust
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Subject
Formerly catalogued as depicting Dolbadarn Castle
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Critical commentary
The trees on the left are noticeably bare
Condition/Conservation
Dimensions of frame: 104 x 108 cm. (40 15/16 x 42 1/2in.) Relined and backed in Melinex. There is evidence of a painted-out fishing rod leaning diagonally against the foregorund rock on the right. Above this is a bare patch of damage. In the sky above the castle, at the summit of the hill are fly-spots (not birds). Kate Lowry has noted:
A group of anglers in the foreground are set against a dark cave in the cliff on the other side of the river and a large castle or fortified town tops the bluff above this. The dark tone behind the angler sets off his outstretched arm and the bait dangling from his line. Damage at lower right due to solvent action reveals the grey tone of the ground beneath the paint. An impastoed pentiment shows there was a rod leaning against the rock in the right foreground, subsequently painted out by the artist. Clouds in sky have impastoed edges.