Thomas Gainsborough
1727-1788
Wooded Landscape with Horseman, Figures, and Bridge
ca. 1780
9 11/16 x 12 3/4 inches (246 x 323 mm)
Black chalk with smudging, opaque lead white, on laid paper.
III, 61
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
Notes
Watermark: none visible through lining.
Study for a picture formerly in the collections of the Earl of Dudley.
Starting in the early 1780s, Gainsborough began to produce variations of similar compositions drawn mainly in black and white chalk: serpentine, asymmetrical landscapes with moving skies and luxuriant trees shaken by a strong wind, populated by solitary animals or slow-marching peasants. In these late works, Gainsborough demonstrated a keen interest in the tonal potential of a monochrome medium like black chalk. A mix of fine strokes of varying length, some of which almost break up into a pattern of dots, is masterfully modulated on the paper, and an ample range of grays, whites, and intense blacks suggests color. By manipulating the medium with a stump (a stick made of tightly rolled paper or felt), Gainsborough distributed the dark tones in the backgrounds to create transparent skies and moving clouds. In these final works, Gainsborough also exploited the qualities of wove paper--then newly introduced to the English market--which made it easier to slide and smear the crayon over the surface of the sheet than had been the case with laid paper. -- Exhibition Label, from "Thomas Gainsborough: Experiments in Drawings."
Study for a picture formerly in the collections of the Earl of Dudley.
Starting in the early 1780s, Gainsborough began to produce variations of similar compositions drawn mainly in black and white chalk: serpentine, asymmetrical landscapes with moving skies and luxuriant trees shaken by a strong wind, populated by solitary animals or slow-marching peasants. In these late works, Gainsborough demonstrated a keen interest in the tonal potential of a monochrome medium like black chalk. A mix of fine strokes of varying length, some of which almost break up into a pattern of dots, is masterfully modulated on the paper, and an ample range of grays, whites, and intense blacks suggests color. By manipulating the medium with a stump (a stick made of tightly rolled paper or felt), Gainsborough distributed the dark tones in the backgrounds to create transparent skies and moving clouds. In these final works, Gainsborough also exploited the qualities of wove paper--then newly introduced to the English market--which made it easier to slide and smear the crayon over the surface of the sheet than had been the case with laid paper. -- Exhibition Label, from "Thomas Gainsborough: Experiments in Drawings."
Associated names
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Bibliography
Bolzoni, Marco S. Thomas Gainsborough : Experiments in Drawings. New York : The Morgan Library & Museum, 2018, p. 63, no. 8, repr.
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : Drawings by the Old Masters Formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, III, 61.
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : Drawings by the Old Masters Formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, III, 61.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
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