Dimensions: unconfirmed: 307 x 460 mm frame: 435 x 588 x 70 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This is Peter De Wint's "River Scene at Sunset," painted sometime before 1849, and it's currently held at the Tate. The warm tones give it such a peaceful feeling, don't you think? What do you see in this work, beyond the obvious? Curator: Well, beyond its aesthetic appeal, consider the historical context. Landscapes like this became popular as Britain underwent industrialization. How did art shape, or perhaps idealize, notions of the British countryside? De Wint is engaging in visual myth-making. Editor: Myth-making... So, the painting isn't just a pretty picture? Curator: Precisely. It's a statement, a visual argument about what "England" should be, especially as urban centers expanded. The Tate's acquisition and display of this work reinforces certain cultural values even today. Editor: I never thought about it that way. It's like the painting is part of a larger conversation about national identity. Curator: Exactly! Seeing it through that lens adds another layer of meaning.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/de-wint-river-scene-at-sunset-t07242
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Although De Wint is remembered as a watercolourist, he was first trained as an oil painter. Between 1802 and 1808 he was apprenticed to the portrait painter and engraver John Raphael Smith, who took him on expeditions by the Thames, De Wint sketching in oils while Smith fished. De Wint gained early release from his apprenticeship on condition that he painted eighteen landscapes of various sizes for Smith over a two-year period. The river depicted in this study has not been identified but could well be the Thames. Gallery label, August 2004
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