View in the Lake District

Location

Country: UK
City: England
Place: Wiston House, Foreign Office, Wilton Park

A couple and their child cross a stone bridge, spanning a river. To the left, a man is fishing accompanied by his dog. Beyond the bridge is a small town. In the distance are the hills of the Lake District.

Landscapist William Marlow was born in London or Southwark. He trained in the studio of marine painter Samuel Scott in Covent Garden (1756-61) and is also thought to have studied at the St Martin’s Lane Academy. Marlow spent his early career travelling around England in search of subjects; painting English country houses and the areas around Twickenham, Richmond, and the lower banks of the Thames. On the advice of the Duchess of Northumberland he travelled to France and Italy (1765-66). He exhibited at the Society of Artists, becoming Vice-President in 1778, and at the Royal Academy. Marlow lived for a time in Leicester Fields (now Leicester Square). His one pupil was John Curtis. In c.1785 he retired to Twickenham, where he died aged 72.

Places

England, Lake District, Cumbria

Subjects

fishing rod, topography, landscape C18th, genre, flower, grass, tree, dog, lake, stone/rock, shore, boy, man, woman, family, basket, child, bridge (rural), path, house

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

William Marlow (1740 - 1813)

Title

View in the Lake District

Date

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 72.50 cm, width: 123.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Sotheby's, 28 January 1953

Provenance

Collection of Sir George Beaumont; sold ‘by order of the trustees’ through Sotheby's, London, ‘Old Master Paintings and Drawings’ sale, on 28 January 1953 (Lot 32); from which sale purchased by Agnew’s Gallery, London, on behalf of the Ministry of Works

GAC number

2051