Completed British 18th C, except portraits 14 Could this painting be by Richard Wilson (1714–1782) or his studio?

GMIII_WHAG_O_1954_1-001.jpg
Topic: Artist

This painting has a good chance of being by Richard Wilson (1714–1782) or his studio. It is a version of his painting 'The White Monk', of which there are over twenty surviving versions:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3153986&partId=1&searchText=richard+wilson+monk&page=1

http://www.richardwilsononline.ac.uk/index.php?a=ViewItem&i=1274&WINID=1416275973901#H4CefKzWY7sAAAFJwJ4I-g/1274

http://www.richardwilsononline.ac.uk/index.php?a=ViewItem&i=1648&WINID=1416275970292#H4CefKzWY7sAAAFJwJ4I-g/1648

This particular version goes by the title 'The White Monk II' in the Richard Wilson online catalogue raisonné. There are currently three known with this variant of figures:

http://www.richardwilsononline.ac.uk/index.php?a=ViewItem&i=1670&WINID=1416277739832#H4CefKzWY7sAAAFJwJ4I-g/1670

http://www.richardwilsononline.ac.uk/index.php?a=ViewItem&key=RHsiRCI6IlwiVGhlIFdoaXRlIE1vbmsgLSBJSVwiIGhhcyB0aGVzZSB2ZXJzaW9ucyIsIk4iOjIsIlAiOnsidHlwZSI6ImZvcndhcmQiLCJyZWxhdGlvbl9pZCI6MSwiaXRlbV9pZCI6IjE2NzAifX0=&pg=2&WINID=1416277849742#H4CefKzWY7sAAAFJwJ4I-g/1617

http://www.richardwilsononline.ac.uk/index.php?a=ViewItem&key=RHsiRCI6IlwiVGhlIFdoaXRlIE1vbmsgLSBJSVwiIGhhcyB0aGVzZSB2ZXJzaW9ucyIsIk4iOjIsIlAiOnsidHlwZSI6ImZvcndhcmQiLCJyZWxhdGlvbl9pZCI6MSwiaXRlbV9pZCI6IjE2NzAifX0=&pg=1&WINID=1416277853375#H4CefKzWY7sAAAFJwJ4I-g/1186

It looks like the parasol has been repainted in version at the Whitworth Art Gallery.

Tim Williams, Entry reviewed by Art UK

Completed, Outcome

This discussion is now closed. ‘Religious Scene’, the topic of our discussion, was identified as a duplicate of an unattributed version of ‘The White Monk' by Richard Wilson. The Whitworth's version of 'The White Monk' has been attributed to ‘Richard Wilson (studio of)’ and the duplicate removed from Art UK.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the discussion. To anyone viewing this discussion for the first time, please see below for all the comments that led to this conclusion.

13 comments

Bendor Grosvenor,

One of many versions no doubt. Let's ask Paul Spencer Longhurst to look at a high res? But good spot Tim from 'Religious scene'.

Tim Williams,

Thanks Bendor - I did get a reply from Dr Spencer Longhurst a couple of days ago, he said:

"Thank you very much for drawing the Whitworth painting (0.1.1954) to my attention. As compiler of 'Richard Wilson Online' I have the painting on my database but it is not published in the online catalogue raisonne as I have not yet seen it and it is traditionally listed as ascribed to Wilson. From what I can see on 'Art Detective' this may be an accurate description but I am in touch with the Whitworth and will follow up with a visit if it seems promising."

So I think the Whitworth could update the title to 'White Monk' and maybe the artist to after Wilson until Dr Spencer Longhurst is able to inspect it in person.

The collection has updated the title to 'The White Abbott' [sic]. https://bit.ly/34q6u3a

It would be good to know why was this chosen, rather than the traditional 'White Monk'? Regarding the attribution, the picture isn't on 'Richard Wilson Online', but I don't know whether that's a deliberate omission or because Paul Spencer-Longhurst hasn't been able to see it yet.

The curators at The Whitworth have thanked us for bringing these potential errors to their attention. Unfortunately, they have no access to the original acquisition records at present, but as soon as they are permitted to return to the gallery they will look into these two works and come back to us.

Even if we leave this discussion open until someone authoritative can study the actual painting, can we at least ask the Whitworth to allow a change of artist and title to reflect the undoubted fact that is is a version of Wilson's 'The White Monk'? The most conservative attribution would be 'After Richard Wilson' with the above accepted title, as Tim Williams proposed almost exactly six yeats ago!

Jacob Simon,

It is a pity that after almost six years Paul Spencer Longhurst has been unable to inspect the picture, whether in person or in the form of a high resolution image. Could such an image be supplied to him?

I would like to thank Paul Spencer-Longhurst for these very helpful comments:

'On the evidence of the TIFF the painting is certainly close to Wilson, though the overall impression it makes does not seem quite right visually. This may be partly due to the unusual darkness of the work – if the image is faithful – and the less than ideal facture in places, such as the foreground figures or the distant mountain. The presumed painting-out of the parasol is also confusing and needs investigation. As ever, it would be necessary to study the real thing to make a more precise assessment, but for the time being I would attribute the picture to Studio of Wilson, thus tentatively making it one of the many studio versions of this ‘good breeder’, in Wilson’s own words.

It is certainly a version of The White Monk – II (Richard Wilson Online, P145, P145A, P145B), and comparable in dimensions particularly to P145A (National Museum Wales, Cardiff) and P145B (Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA). Those dimensions could also link it to a version recorded in W.G. Constable’ s monograph (1953), p. 228 as ‘III. Without the umbrella (4) in the collection of Sir Walter Maxwell-Scott Bt, Abbotsford and previously in the collection of Mrs John A. Loggan, Washington D.C. This was reported by Ellis Waterhouse ‘who considers it certainly by Wilson’ – a vote of confidence indeed. However, we would need details of provenance from the Whitworth before taking that any further.

I hope the above is a little helpful, at least. It is certainly an interesting picture and I now am keen to see it when the Whitworth admits visitors again.'

We are aware that the image is now missing from this discussion owing to the removal of a duplicate artwork record from Art UK.

'Religious Scene' has been deleted and the image for it attached to the correct record, namely 'The White Monk', 1760s, acc. no. O.1954.1

The attribution will be updated in due course.