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Richard Wilson, 1713/4–1782, British, active in Italy (1750–56), Italian sketchbook, 1754

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Creator:

Richard Wilson, 1713/4–1782
Single drawing by William Hodges, 1744–1797

Title:

Italian sketchbook

Additional Title(s):

View of the Falls and Temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli

p. 23: Study in Durham Yard before the Adelphi was Built. By Wm. Hodges, Pupil to Richard Wilson in 1765

Part Of:

Collective Title: Italian Sketchbook

Date:

1754

Materials & Techniques:

Graphite with white chalk and black chalk on medium, rough, gray wove paper

Dimensions:

Sheet: 11 1/8 x 8 1/4 inches (28.3 x 21 cm)

Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed in black chalk, center: "Brockwell Bushes near Mr. Broc | kmans in Kent"; below in brown ink, center: "The gift of O. Bowles. | to his Dear friend | Sir George Beaumont. | Decr. ["r" in superscript] 1784."; at the end of the volume, in black chalk, upper center: "Questo Libro e de Monsu Wilson a la | Caffe delli Inglesi nella Piazza de Spagnia | Roma."

Signed and dated in pen and brown ink on fly-leaf, upper center: "Studies by R. Wilson | at Rome 1754"

Credit Line:

Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

Copyright Status:

Public Domain

Accession Number:

B1977.14.359

Classification:

Drawings & Watercolors-Sketchbooks

Collection:

Prints and Drawings

Subject Terms:

Associated Places:

Europe | Italy | Lazio | Roma | Tivoli

Access:

Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
Note: The Study Room is open by appointment. Please visit the Study Room page on our website for more details.

Link:

https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:6363

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For the British artist studying in Italy, the sketchbook was a crucial tool. Three on "classic ground" the act of drawing focused the attention and aided the understanding. Back in Britain the sketchbook provided not only a record of the art and landscape encountered but also a repertoire of poses, figural groupings, and compositional ideas from the ancients and the masters of the Renaissance and Baroque or of richly evocative landscape elements that could be incorporated into their own art. Richard Wilson's sketchbook of 1754 is the second of two extant sketchbooks from his years in Italy. The earlier sketchbook (Victoria and Albert Museum), dated 1752 includes both quick studies from nature and imaginary landscape compositions of his own invention. Such landscape capriccios are absent from the later sketchbook, which is largely devoted to sensitive and more highly finished studies in chalk of antique sculpture, copses and gnarled trees, and recognizable views of Rome and Campagna, such as the drawing of Tivoli shown here. The falls at Tivoli, with the circular temple known as the Temple of the Sybil perched above was one of the most popular motifs for foreign landscape artists in Italy. Gallery label for The Line of Beauty: British Drawings and Watercolors of the Eighteenth Century (Yale Center for British Art, 2001-05-19 - 2001-08-05)

For the British artist studying in Italy, the sketchbook was a crucial tool. Three on "classic ground" the act of drawing focused the attention and aided the understanding. Back in Britain the sketchbook provided not only a record of the art and landscape encountered but also a repertoire of poses, figural groupings, and compositional ideas from the ancients and the masters of the Renaissance and Baroque or of richly evocative landscape elements that could be incorporated into their own art. Richard Wilson's sketchbook of 1754 is the second of two extant sketchbooks from his years in Italy. The earlier sketchbook (Victoria and Albert Museum), dated 1752 includes both quick studies from nature and imaginary landscape compositions of his own invention. Such landscape capriccios are absent from the later sketchbook, which is largely devoted to sensitive and more highly finished studies in chalk of antique sculpture, copses and gnarled trees, and recognizable views of Rome and Campagna, such as the drawing of Tivoli shown here. The falls at Tivoli, with the circular temple known as the Temple of the Sybil perched above was one of the most popular motifs for foreign landscape artists in Italy.

Scott Wilcox

Wilcox, Forrester, O'Neil, Sloan. The Line of Beauty: British Drawings and Watercolors of the Eighteenth Century. Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2001. pg. cat. no. N5220 M552 P38 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)

Richard Wilson and the Transformation of European Landscape Painting (National Museum Wales, 2014-07-05 - 2014-10-26) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Richard Wilson and the Transformation of European Landscape Painting (Yale Center for British Art, 2014-03-06 - 2014-06-01) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Nobleness and Grandeur - Forging Historical Landscape in Britain, 1760 - 1850 (Yale Center for British Art, 2005-01-27 - 2005-04-24) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Thomas Jones (1742-1803) (Whitworth Art Gallery, 2003-08-22 - 2003-10-26) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Thomas Jones (1742-1803) (National Museum Wales, 2003-05-21 - 2003-08-10) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

The Line of Beauty : British Drawings and Watercolors of the Eighteenth Century (Yale Center for British Art, 2001-05-19 - 2001-08-05) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

The Grand Tour (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, 1998-01-10 - 1998-04-10) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Richard Wilson - The Landscape of Reaction (Yale Center for British Art, 1983-04-20 - 1983-06-19) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Richard Wilson - The Landscape of Reaction (National Museum Wales, 1983-01-29 - 1983-03-20) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Richard Wilson - The Landscape of Reaction (Tate Britain, 1982-11-03 - 1983-01-02) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Classic Ground - British Artists and the Landscape of Italy, 1740-1830 (Yale Center for British Art, 1981-07-29 - 1981-09-20) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

English Landscape (Paul Mellon Collection) 1630-1850 (Yale Center for British Art, 1977-04-19 - 1977-07-17) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Duncan Bull, Classic ground : British artists and the landscape of Italy, 1740-1830, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1981, pp. 3, 60, nos. 90 and 90a, ND1354.4 B85 (YCBA) [YCBA]

John Marciari, The Grand Tour : an exhibition held at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library 15 January through 31 March MCMCVIII, Yale University Library, New Haven, 1998, p. 22, N8214.5 .I8 M27 1998 + Oversize (YCBA) [YCBA]

Martin Postle, Richard Wilson and the transformation of European landscape painting, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2014, pp. 183, 316, NJ18.W72 R53 2014 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Richard Wilson and the British Arcadia, April 29-June 25, 2010, Richard L. Feigen & Co. , Richard L. Feigen & Co., New York, 2010, pp. [48, 50], see cat. no. 6, cat. no. 6, fig. 4, NJ18.W72 R53 2010 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Greg Smith, Thomas Jones (1742-1803) : an artist rediscovered, , Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2003, p. 123, no. 30, pl. no. 30, NJ18 J714 T56 2003 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

David H. Solkin, Richard Wilson, the landscape of reaction, Tate Publishing, London, 1982, pp. 164-5, no. 39, NJ18 W72 S65 + (YCBA) [YCBA]

Christopher White, English landscape, 1630-1850 : drawings, prints & books from the Paul Mellon Collection, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1977, pp. 10-11, no. 15, pl. LIII, NC228 W45 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Scott Wilcox, Line of beauty : British drawings and watercolors of the eighteenth century, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2001, p. 127, cat. no. 106, NC228 W53 2001 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Richard Wilson, An Italian sketchbook : drawings made by the artist in Rome and its environs in the year 1754, Paul Mellon Foundation for British Art, London, 1968, vol. 1, pp. 31-2, no. 10, NJ18 .W72 S88 + Oversize (YCBA) [YCBA]

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