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, English, 1784-1849
Title
A River in a Rocky Gorge (2)
Datec.1848
MediumGraphite and watercolour on paper
Dimensions
51.4 x 36.8 cm
Credit LineTransferred, National Museum of Ireland, 1966
Object numberNGI.3904
DescriptionThe landscape is built up in easily followed stages. Firstly, the main shapes are drawn in pencil. Then tonal washes block in the dark masses such as the rocks, and trees. The faded appearance of these drawings is probably due to the fact that they were used by the students of the Dublin Society's Drawing Schools to copy and learn from. They would have been exposed unframed in well-lit studios and handled by generations of artists who passed through the Schools. Their very existence gives us a real sense of how landscape was taught in the drawing schools of the nineteenth century.