View in Richmond Park

View in Richmond Park

1850
Artist
John Martin, English, 1789–1854
Country
England
Object
painting
Medium
Oil paint on paper lined with linen mounted on board
Accession Number
2018.12
Credit Line
Gift of the Berger Collection Educational Trust

John Martin, View in Richmond Park, 1850. Oil paint on paper mounted on board; 20 × 36 in. (50.8 × 91.4 cm). Gift of the Berger Collection Educational Trust, 2018.12
 

Dimensions
image height: 20 in, 50.8000 cm; image width: 36 in, 91.4400 cm; frame height: 25 3/4 in, 65.4050 cm; frame width: 41 3/4 in, 106.0450 cm; frame depth: 3 1/2 in, 8.8900 cm
Department
European and American Art Before 1900
Collection
European Painting and Sculpture before 1900

John Martin was one of the best-known figures in early nineteenth-century British art. He painted large-scale scenes of apocalyptic biblical events set in imaginary, often fantastic landscapes and then translated those paintings into prints that were widely distributed—as well as copied and pirated—not only in Britain and Europe but also in America. During the 1840s and early 1850s he painted numerous small, independent landscapes, mostly in watercolor and many of prospects in London’s Richmond Park. Here the view is thought to be to the west across the Thames Valley, with the River Thames visible in the distance. The small figure reclining in the foreground is a recurring feature in many of Martin’s late London-area landscapes. 

Known Provenance
Possibly purchased by Charles Scarisbrick (1800–1860), Scarisbrick Hall, Lancashire; possibly sold by his estate, Christie’s, London, 1861 (as "Romantic Woody Landscape, with vistas of distant view, Jacques seated reading in the foreground"). Property of a private collector, Nottinghamshire, until 1977; purchased by a private collector, 1978; purchased by Ben Elwes Fine Art, London; purchased by the Berger Collection Educational Trust, 2011; gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2018. Provenance research is on-going at the Denver Art Museum and we will post information as it becomes available. Please e-mail provenance@denverartmuseum.org, if you have questions, or if you have additional information to share with us.
Exhibition History
  • Possibly British Institution, London, 1850 ("Romantic Woody Landscape . . . exhibited as Forest of Ardennes"). "Treasures of British Art 1400-2000: The Berger Collection," exh. cat. by Kathleen Stuart, Denver Art Museum, 2014, no. 31, repr.
  • “Treasures from the Berger Collection: British Paintings 1400-2000” — Denver Art Museum, 10/2/2014 – 9/9/2018