by-nc

Wooded landscape with herdsman driving cattle over a bridge, and a ruined castle

Maker

(artist)
1727-1788

Title

Wooded landscape with herdsman driving cattle over a bridge, and a ruined castle

Date of Production

(circa) 1781

Medium

black wash, black chalk, lead white on brown laid paper, laid down, cut into an oval [lead white flouresces purple under UV]

Dimensions

Height: 28.5 cm
Width: 35.1 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.4181

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords







Label Text

Gainsborough drew innumerable monochrome landscape compositions, loosely derived from the English countryside and sometimes aided by items such as broccoli and glass arranged to simulate trees and water in his studio. He was experimental in his use of media too, describing to a friend his use of white lead fixed with skimmed milk to heighten his drawings. This drawing is either a study for, or a revision of, an oval painting exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1781 and is also related to a soft-ground etching published by J. & J. Boydell in 1797.

Provenance

Susannah Gardiner, the artist's sister (d. 1818); by descent to Miss R.H. Green; her sale, Christie's (London), 1 April 1949, lot 34; purchased there by Colnaghi (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), 27 April 1949, for £100; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

The Witt Collection - Four centuries of drawings, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/04/2004-20/06/2004

Thomas Gainsborough, Tate Britain, London, 24/10/2002-19/01/2003

Thomas Gainsborough, Ferrara & Italy, 07/06/1998-30/08/1998 ...More

Master Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 16/10/1991-19/01/1992

Gainsborough the printmaker, Peter Pears Gallery, Aldeburgh, 11/06/1988-03/07/1988

The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/09/1986-30/11/1986; The Drawing Center, New York, 08/04/1986-26/07/1986

Angelika Kauffmann und ihre Zeitgenossen, Vorarlberger Landesmuseum, Bregenz and Osterreichisches Museum fur angewandte Kunst, Vienna, 23/07/1968-01/02/1969

English Landscape Drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/01/1965-01/05/1965

Landscapes by Thomas Gainsborough, Nottingham University Art Gallery, 01/11/1962-25/11/1962

Gainsborough drawings, London; York City Art Gallery; four other venues, 1960-61

Exhibition of Old Master Drawings, Colnaghi, London, 28/04/1949-31/05/1949 ...Less

Literature

Gainsborough, Tate Gallery, 2002
no. 160

Christie's, British Drawings & Watercolours, London, 8 June 1999
no. 114

Thomas Gainsborough, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, 1998
no. 71
ill. on p. 204 ...More

Master Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1991
cat. no. 34
pp. 76, 180
ill. on p. 77

Derow, Jonathan P., 'Gainsborough's Varnished Watercolor Technique' in 'Master Drawings', 1989 - 259-71
p. 264
pl. 16

The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1986
cat. no. 91
ill. on p. 207

Mantegna to Cezanne: Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 1983
no. 89, pp. 73-74
ill. on p. 92

Hayes, John, The Landscape paintings of Thomas Gainsborough, London, 1982
under no. 128

Hayes, John, Gainsborough as printmaker, London 1971
under no. 11
pl. 66

Hayes, John, The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, London 1970
no. 498 and on pp. 38, 45, 62, 223-24
pl. 288

Angelika Kauffmann und ihre Zeitgenossen, Vorarlberger Landesmuseum, Bregenz and Osterreichisches Museum fur angewandte Kunst, Vienna, 1968 / 1969
cat. no. 240
no. 240

English Landscape Drawings from the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1965
cat. no. 8

Gainsborough drawings, London; York City Art Gallery; four other venues, 1960-61
cat. no. 37

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 22 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: unable to check due to thick backing sheet.

Inscription: none.

Collector's mark: none.

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