Copleston Warre Bamfylde

Commissioned from the artist by George, Lord Lyttelton (1909-93);
by descent

Possibly, London, Royal Academy, 1772, no. 293;
Birmingham, City Art Gallery, Treasures from Midlands Homes, 1926, no. 70 (86)

Catalogue of Pictures at Hagley Hall, 1900, no. 86

STRUCTURE The canvas has been lined PAINT SURFACE The painting appears to be in excellent condition with no apparent tears or damages. ULTRAVIOLET Ultraviolet light reveals no sign of recent restoration. FRAME Held in a fine, gilded British Rococo frame.
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Coplestone Warre Bamfylde (also spelt Bampfylde) was the son of John Bamfylde of Poltimore, Devon, M.P. for Exeter (1715-22) and Devon (1736-41) and his second wife Margaret, daughter and heiress of Sir Francis Warre of Hestercombe. He started his early training drawing Views at Mount Edgcumbe by George Lambert which were to be engraved, and by 1758 he was recorded in Bath clearly having already established himself as a 'figure whose fortune, person, figure and accomplishments can hardly leave him unnoticed.' Bamfylde created a magnificent garden at Hestercombe (largely achieved by 1761), and was also an architect as well as an important patron of the arts. By 1763 he had started exhibiting paintings in London at the Society of Artists, the Free Society and also at the Royal Academy as an honorary exhibitor.

Dated 1772 this capriccio landscape fulfills the current vogue for the ideal picturesque view with its blasted tree stump, vast mountains and Claudian lighting. The composition also reflects the prevalent interest in capriccio landscapes by painters such as Claude Lorrain, Nicolas Poussin, Gaspard Dughet and Salvator Rosa. However, the drama inherent in this wind swept coastal scene is most obviously comparable with the paintings of Claude-Joseph Vernet (1714-84). Vernet specialised in coastal and harbour scenes many of which were purchased between 1738 and 1748 by British patrons amongst whom was the banker Henry Hoare. At the time Bamfylde completed this painting he was also painting at Stourhead in Wiltshire the seat of Henry Hoare (see View of the Park at Stourhead, Sotheby's London, 21 March 2002, lot 52).