Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding, 1787–1855, British
Title:
Richmond Hill
Date:
1830
Materials & Techniques:
Watercolor with scraping on moderately thick, moderately textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 6 5/8 × 12 inches (16.8 × 30.5 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.5895
Gallery Label:
The sweeping vista of the Thames from Richmond Hill near London had been a staple subject for landscape artists since the end of the seventeenth century. Rather than following earlier pictorial or literary representations of the view, however, Copley Fielding's Richmond Hill has all the hallmarks of a plein air sketch made from direct observation of nature, a lesson learnt from John Varley. By doing so he has injected a vivid freshness into a tired subject. In 1825 Eugène Delacroix visited London and joined Copley Fielding on a sketching tour, which led him to begin his own experiments in watercolor heavily dependent on the English artist's example. Gallery label for Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-06-09 - 2008-08-17)