Attrib. William Collins RA Wilton Bridge, Ross-on-Wye
An original early 19th-century oil painting, Attrib. William Collins RA, Wilton Bridge, Ross-on-Wye.
This tranquil view looks towards the Wilton Bridge and St Mary's Church at Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire on the England–Wales border. Characteristically for William Collins RA (1788–1847), the landscape is invigorated by human and animal activity; a humbly dressed herdsman or traveller surveys the view from the riverbank, whilst his cow rounds the riverside path.
Famously, the work of William Collins RA was better known in his day than that of his rival John Constable. Collins was prolific and highly successful, his rural and childhood genre subjects appealing to Victorian tastes for sentiment. Posthumously, in the second half of the 19th century his popularity increased further, when his market price rose higher than Constable, the latter artist being harshly criticised by John Ruskin.
William Collins was a close friend of the Scottish artist Sir David Wilkie RA (1785–1841), a painter also known for his genre scenes. Wilkie was godfather and namesake to Collins's son, the Victorian novelist Wilkie Collins (1824–1889).
Wilkie Collins wrote a memoir of his father, published in 1848, where he describes the artist's visit to Wales in 1834, taking in Ross on his return trip. The picturesque delights of the Wye Valley had for some time been a draw for artists, since William Gilpin wrote Britain’s first travel guidebook about the area in 1782. Collins undertook the tour of Wales in search of 'the attractions of which he had often heard of, but had never yet beheld', and also to escape the pressures of exhibiting in London. He returned 'fortified both in mind and body, by four months' quiet study and enjoyment of many of the finest beauties of Nature, which the scenery of this island can present'.
The present oil painting is unsigned but bears the ascription 'Ross on Wye William Collins' on the back of the stretcher. The canvas has historically been lined and restretched onto the current stretcher, likely in the later 19th century. The painting is presented in a 19th-century gilt wood and gesso frame.
Image size: 34.3 x 42cm. Frame: 46.3 x 54.2cm.
Dimensions: Height: 46.3cm (18.23") Width: 54.2cm (21.34")
Presented: In a 19th-century gilt wood and gesso frame (46.3 x 54.2cm).
Medium: Oil
Age: Early 19th-century
Signed: No.
Inscribed: Inscribed by a later hand on the stretcher.
Dated: --
Condition: In good condition for its age. Minor craquelure as shown. There is an area at the left side of the church spire, and in the sky to its left, where the varnish has been removed. However, this is only apparent in raking light. There is a very small dint in the canvas in the area above the cow at the left. There are some minor knocks to the frame, with small losses of gesso to the corners, a loss at the right edge and various other slight marks. Please see photos for detail.
Stock number: JY-106
