Castell Dinas Bran from Llangollen

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Castell Dinas Bran from Llangollen
Castell Dinas Bran from Llangollen
Castell Dinas Bran from Llangollen
The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782) and later intervention
Title
Castell Dinas Bran from Llangollen
Date
1780 (undated)
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 67.7 x 87.8 cm
Imperial: 26 5/8 x 33 9/16 in.
Accession Number
PE05556
Wilson Online Reference
P167A
Exhibited
Conwy 2009 (24); MOMA Machynlleth, Romanticism in the Welsh Landscape, 19 March-18 June 2016 (unnumbered)
Provenance
S.H. Sharp; Sotheby's London, 23 November 1966 (19), bt Bernard; Sotheby's London, 11 March 1987 (71); with Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd, 31 Bruton Street, London W.1.; bt by the National Library of Wales
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Verso inscriptions
[1] Right end of upper horizontal stretcher bar, white chalk: LOT 71 11-3-87
[2] Centre of upper stretcher bar, impressed: FLeedham | Liner
[3] Centre left of middle horizontal stretcher bar, yellow chalk: C-4817 [?]
[4] Centre of middle vertical stretcher bar, yellow chalk: C-497
[5] Right vertical member of frame, yellow chalk, partly concealed: 152521
Labels
Verso:
[1] Printed loan label in two parts adhered to upper left corner of stretcher with handwritten encircled numbers: 29 [and] 43
[2] Partly-concealed by [1], torn label with ink inscription in old hand: 556
[3] Old handwritten label centre of upper stretcher bar: MON no 09050 / Searle
[4] Modern label left end of middle horizontal stretcher bar: COLOUR
[5] Left vertical stretcher bar, lower centre, two pink stamped labels: 21 OCT 1986 [and] 14 DEC 1986
[6] Left vertical stretcher bar, lower end: modern museum label with accession number
[7] Left corner of lower horizontal stretcher bar, old handwritten label: R5357
[8] Centre left of lower horizontal stretcher bar: two printed and handwritten National Library of Wales labels
[9] Centre of lower horizontal stretcher bar, printed label: A8239 / Dinas Bran, Nr. Llangollen / by / Richard WILSON. / ARTHUR TOOTH & SONS LTD, Old Masters and Modern Paintings / 31 BRUTON ST LONDON W1 GROsvenor 6741
[10] Right vertical member of frame, old handwritten label: H44
Related Drawings
D374 Castell Dinas Bran, Wales, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
D374A Dinas Bran from Llangollen, National Museum Wales, Cardiff
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Critical commentary
As in P165 Dinas Bran from Llangollen - I, Yale Center for British Art, Wilson has dramatised the visual impact of Dinas Bran by silhouetting it directly against the sky and omitting the range of hills which in fact appear behind it.
Bibliography
Pennant 1784, vol. 1, pp. 297-98; Lord 2000, p. 116, pl. 174; Lord 2009, p. 59 no. 24, repr. p. 21; P. Wakelin, Romancing Wales: Romanticism in the Welsh Landscape since 1770, 2016, pp. 11-13, repr.
Condition/Conservation
In a period carved gilt frame, glazed with glass; backboard fitted to stretcher. Kate Lowry has noted: Glue relined. Original turnovers removed at time of lining. Stretcher dates from lining. A strip 13 cm wide down the left side of the painting has been heavily repainted - this is very clear under UV. It is possible that the painting was stretched over a smaller painting at some point, subsequently restretched to its full size, and the resulting damage retouched. The pale pink ground is similar to that found in P165 Dinas Bran from Llangollen - I, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven. The horizon line painted down to the distant hills and the pentimenti down the right side of the main hill are typical Wilson features. However, the white water of the river is very fussily painted and the colourful, globular figures, especially the standing man, are unlike Wilson's. The painting could be by Wilson with additions by a later hand.
Updated by Compiler
2016-06-05 00:00:00