Stonehenge

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Dominic Serres, marine painter and nephew of the Archbishop of Rheims, was born in Auch, Gascony. He studied at the English Benedictine school at Douai but is thought to have run away and served with the Spanish fleet, before being captured and sent to England as a prisoner of war in c.1750. After his release, he painted views of country houses. In the late 1750s he moved to London, where he was a pupil of marine painter Charles Brooking. He established a reputation for battle scenes during the Seven Years War and the War of American Independence. In 1768, he was one of the founder members of the Royal Academy and in 1780 he was made marine painter to George III. He became librarian of the Royal Academy in 1792, shortly before his death.

Places

England, Stonehenge, Wiltshire, Salisbury Plain

Subjects

shepherd, carriage, topography, landscape C18th, dog, horse, sheep, man, walking stick, archaeological site, henge

Materials & Techniques

paper (as artists material), watercolour (as artists materials), ink, watercolour (as object name), wash

Artist

Dominic Serres (1722 - 1793)

Title

Stonehenge

Date

October 1770

Medium

Pen and ink, wash and watercolour on paper

Dimensions

height: 21.50 cm, width: 36.50 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Christie's, 4 July 1958

Inscription

br: Drawn on the / spot 8br 1770 by / D Serres

Provenance

Collection of Miss C. M. O’Connor; by whom sold through Christie's, London, on 4 July 1958 (Lot 32); from which sale purchased by ‘Walker’ (Richard Walker) on behalf of the Ministry of Works

GAC number

4670