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Irish landscape with a house and figures

Maker

(artist)
1747-1801

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1782

Medium

graphite, pen and grey ink, watercolour on laid paper, with grey ink framing lines, laid down on a historic mount

Dimensions

Height: 52.7 cm
Width: 45.4 cm

Accession Number

D.1967.WS.101

Mode of Acquisition

William Wycliffe Spooner, bequest, 1967

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Although unidentified, this view of an abandoned building, possibly incorporating a monastic gateway, does not appear to have been invented. Another version, dated 1782, suggests that the Spooner drawing probably dates from Wheatley’s years in Ireland between 1779 and 1783. During this stay he produced watercolour scenes of itinerant fairs, gypsies and peasants, but his scenes of rural life became increasingly sentimental and the working figures idealised, as here.

Provenance

David McAdam, first Viscount Eccles (1904-1999); purchased from him by Colnaghi (London), 15 August 1958; purchased there by William Wycliffe Spooner, Ilkley (1882-1967), 13 November 1958 (£230); Spooner Bequest 1967

Exhibition History

British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum and Art Gallery, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005

British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005; Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere, 18/07/2005-23/10/2005; Hermitage Rooms, Somerset House, London, 16/11/2005-12/02/2006

English Watercolours: The Spooner Collection and Bequest, City Art Gallery, Bristol, 11/05/1973-02/06/1973 ...More

Masters of the Watercolour - Watercolours from the Spooner
Collection, Holburne Museum of Art, Bath, 1969

Royal Academy of Arts Bicentenary Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 14/12/1968-02/03/1969

The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/04/1968-01/07/1968

A loan exhibition of English drawings and watercolours in memory of the late D.C.T. Baskett, Colnaghi, London, 30/07/1963-23/08/1963 ...Less

Literature

The Spooner Collection of British Watercolours, Courtauld Institute Galleries; Huntington Library; Wordsworth Trust, 2005-06
cat. no. 22
ill. on p. 117

English Watercolours: The Spooner Collection and Bequest, City Art Gallery, Bristol, 1973
cat. no. 65

Masters of the Watercolour - Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Holburne Museum of Art, Bath, 1969
cat. no. 79 ...More

The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1968
cat. no. 13 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: Recto, upper centre (difficult to see due to mount): “C & […]” (probably “C & I HONIG”). Mount (historic), Verso: upper centre: “J HONIG / & / ZOONEN” (matches Heawood 3344 though ours is larger – Berne 1787).

Inscription: Mount (historic), Recto: lower right, graphite: “27 ½ x 23 ¾”. Mount (historic), Verso: upper left, graphite, William Bradford’s hand (former Courtauld Curator): “to be / removed / from mount” and “Francis Wheatley. / Spooner Coll. WB. 1981”; lower right, graphite, Colnaghi number: “A.23010”.

Collector's mark: none

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