Thomas Roberts
, Irish, 1748-1777
Title
A LandscapeDatec.1770
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
112 x 153 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 1972
Object numberNGI.4052
DescriptionDuring a regrettably short career, Waterford-born Thomas Roberts painted landscapes of outstanding refinement and lyricism. His oeuvre included topographical and ideal landscapes, and unusually accomplished sets of views of country demesnes, including Dawson Grove and Carton. The composition of the painting, characterised by the tall, dark elements in the foreground that frame the scene and the river that leads the viewer into the landscape beyond, is conceived very much in the Claudean tradition. The presence of a medieval, rather than classical, ruin in the background, gives the painting a more Irish inflection. This picture, distinguished by its autumnal palette, and even tonality, represents Roberts’s work at its most ethereal. However, the artist breaks down the illusion that one is looking into another world, common in ideal landscapes of this kind, by inviting the viewer to engage directly with the boy on horseback who looks out from the canvas. Compared to more prosaic works by Roberts, this is a dream landscape.
March 2016
ProvenanceThe Earl of Yarborough; auction in Parke-Bernet, New York; Mr Leonard Koetser, London; purchased, Mr L. Koetser, London, 1972 Exhibition HistoryAspects of Irish Art, a Loan Exhibition; Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio, 27 January - 3 March 1974; Toledo Museum of Arts, Toledo, Ohio, 17 March - 14 April 1974; St Louis Art Museum, St Louis, Missouri, 3 May - 9 June 1974
La Peinture Britannique de Gainsborough à Bacon, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux, 1977
Thomas Roberts, 1748-1778, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1978
Thomas Roberts, 1748-1777, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 28 March - 28 June 2009
Label TextDuring a regrettably short career, Roberts painted landscapes of outstanding refinement and lyricism. His oeuvre included topographical and ideal landscapes, and unusually accomplished sets of views of country demesnes. The composition of the painting, characterised by the tall, dark elements in the foreground that frame the scene and the river winding into the landscape beyond, is conceived in the Claudean tradition. However, the presence of a medieval, rather than classical, ruin in the background, gives the painting a more Irish inflection. This picture, distinguished by its ‘autumnal palette, hazy lights and silver lustre’, represents Roberts’s work at its most ethereal.