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Classical landscape

Maker

Thomas de Thomon (artist)
1754-1813

Title

Classical landscape

Date of Production

1700 - 1799

Medium

graphite, metalpoint, brown wash on prepared and burnished paper ('papier-plâtre')

Dimensions

Height: 20.1 cm
Width: 24.4 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.744

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

The ostensible subject of this drawing, not securely identified, is a dramatic episode of classical inspiration. An extraordinary group of trees, whose serpentine branches seem to twist and writhe as if animated, dominates the composition. The use of tight zigzag lines to indicate a willow’s drooping branches is characteristic of Thomas de Thomon’s drawings. An architect, painter and theorist, he once wrote that ‘trees are the most difficult part of a landscape, just as they are its greatest ornament’.

Notes

This sheet was previously dated 1798 because that date appears in the inscription on the verso, but it refers to the date that Duchiron translated Johnson's book Rasselas from English into French, and not to the date of the drawing. The same inscription identifies this as a scene from Rasselas, but it does not seem to correspond to any scenes contained therein.

Provenance

Sotheby's (London) [possibly 12 July 1922 as RW.743 and 745 were both purchased there]; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d. (10 shillings); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Regarding Trees, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/06/2016-25/09/2016

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

French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 04/07/1991-06/10/1991 ...More

Neo-Classical Drawings, The Courtauld Gallery, London, November 1972-December 1972 ...Less

Literature

Couturier, Sonia, 'Une fantaisie historique ou La fabrication du néoclassicisme: Tullie conduisant son char sur le corps de son père par Jean-François Thomas, dit Thomas de Thomon' in 'Revue du Musée des Beaux-Arts du Canada', Ottawa 2008 - pp. 37-51; VI
pp. 47-48
Fig. 15 on p. 47

Borne, François, 'Excellence in obscurity: French drawings at the Courtauld Institute of Art' in 'Apollo', September 1991 - pp. 192-94; CXXXIV, 355
p. 194

French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1991
no. 44. 98
Illus. p. 99 (b&w) and np (colour)

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: within the drawing, lower right edge, graphite, signed by the artist: “TS. deThomon.” Verso: upper left corner, metalpoint, unclear: “J.6.66 [?]”; upper centre, graphite: “Des Scavans Ecrivent leurs Observations / Sur les beautés de la Ville d’abissinie / pour en faire part à Rasselas Prince de celle belle contré. / Compossée Par. Ths. deThomon. ed dessiné par lui même. / [paraphe] //”; right centre edge, graphite: “Sujet tiré des ouvrages du Docteur / Johnson. traduit de l’anglais. / par M. Duchiron / à Wienne. / MDCCXCVIII. //”; lower centre, graphite: “g”; lower centre, graphite: “from Rasselas”; lower centre, graphite, Witt number: “744”; lower left corner, graphite: “2A / No. 126 //”; lower centre edge, brown ink, smudged: “F.2[…]”.

Collector's mark: Verso: lower left edge, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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