Richard Wilson, R.A. 1714-1782

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Description

Richard Wilson, R.A.
View of Tivoli
inscribed on original mount l.c.: Wilson, inscribed with intials l.r.: WE , further inscribed l.c.: View of Tivoli and numbered in pencil l.r.: No 19, also inscribed on reverse of original mount: 1817.WE.Lamberts coll.P116 N 213
black chalk heightened with white on grey laid paper, original wash-line mount

Provenance

Probably Charles Lambert F.S.A., his sale 24-26th March 1817;
William Esdaile (1758-1837);
Purchased from P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, 1958

Catalogue Note

This drawing formed part of the remarkable collection of William Esdaile who started his career in his father's bank but soon transferred his energies to his chief interest, that of collecting works of art. He began to collect in the late eighteenth century under the guidance of Thomas Noble and John Thane, and bought extensively from Lord Bute's sale in 1794. He owned a house on Clapham Common set in its own park, and filled it with paintings by Durer, Rubens, Ostade, Rosa, Wilson, Gainsborough and many other artists. The pride of his collection were his prints and drawings, housed in special cabinets. He owned drawings by Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Rubens and Claude as well as many by Wilson. Following his death his enormous collection was sold in a series of sales over seventeen days between March 1838 and June 1840