View of Gilsland Spa

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Joseph Farington was born in Leigh, Lancashire, son of the vicar of Leigh and rector of Warrington. He was educated in Manchester and studied under Richard Wilson in London from 1763. He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1769 and became an Academician in 1785. His strength was in pen, ink and wash drawings of topographical views. He made extensive sketching tours of the UK and settled in the North Country from 1776. Works made there led to the publication ‘Views of the Lakes of Cumberland and Westmorland’ (1785). In 1780 he suffered a breakdown after his wife died. In the next year he moved to London. He died on a visit to his brother in Lancashire, when he fell down steps at Didsbury Church. His personal diaries were published in 1934.
In 1767 Samuel Middiman was apprenticed to the engraver William Byrne and later worked with printmakers William Woollett and Francesco Bartolozzi. As a specialist in landscape etching, his skills were always in demand. He made 16 plates for the publication ‘Picturesque Castles and Abbeys in England and Wales’ (1807-11) and 53 for ‘Select Views in Great Britiain’ (1814). From 1780 to 1782 and from 1795 to 1797 he exhibited drawings at the Royal Academy. In 1788 he married Martha Woodyer at St Pancras. Middiman produced four plates for the ‘Shakespeare Gallery’. Later in his career he turned to landscape painting and exhibited several works at the British Institution. He died at Cirencester Place in Westbourne Park, London, in December 1831.

Places

England, Cumbria, Gilsland Spa

Subjects

topography, landscape C19th, lake, mountain, hill, stone/rock, path, house

Materials & Techniques

engraving, coloured engraving

Artist

Joseph Farington (1747 - 1821)
Samuel Middiman (1750 - 1831)

Title

View of Gilsland Spa

Date

published 15 September 1815

Medium

Coloured engraving

Acquisition

Purchased from Sotheby's, 22 February 1977

GAC number

13060