An Artist Travelling in Wales
After Thomas Rowlandson British
Etcher Henri Merke Swiss
Publisher Rudolph Ackermann, London British
Not on view
The protracted Anglo-French conflict between 1792 and 1815 prevented British artists from exploring the Continent. Instead, many sought vistas at home, encouraged by William Gilpin’s influential book Observations relative chiefly to Picturesque Beauty (1786). Rowlandson’s image parodies a strenuous tour made through Wales in August 1797 with the caricaturist Henry Wigstead. A published account describes constant fog and rain, rough roads, poor lodgings, spartan food and wild country folk. In this image, a tall, thin, figure–possibly intended for Wigstead–balances on a small pony. Man and beast are laden with artistic paraphernalia, all inadequately shielded from the downpour. A rustic family watches in amazement; for them the artist presents a much more interesting spectacle than the scenery.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
