View on the River Wye
- Thomas Jones, Welsh, 1742-1803
Thomas Jones, View on the River Wye, About 1776. Oil paint on millboard; 18 × 24 in. (45.7 × 61 cm). Gift of the Berger Collection Educational Trust, 2019.14
Born in Wales, Thomas Jones trained in London with the founder of the British landscape school, Richard Wilson. From Wilson he learned the principles of the so-called classical or ideal landscape – a tranquil vista framed by graceful trees in the foreground and mountains along the distant horizon. Jones then adapted these principles to his native Wales. This picture records a view north of Monmouth on the English border. On the far riverbank are several carefully painted stone cottages, smoke rising from their chimney stacks. The hill beyond has been crowned with a walker’s “cairn.” These piles of stones marked the summit of a hill or mountain; whenever a walker reached the top, he deposited a stone to mark his visit.
- “Treasures from the Berger Collection: British Paintings 1400-2000” — Denver Art Museum, 10/2/2014 – 9/9/2018