Westminster Bridge, the Surrey side

ca. 1750

Not on view

Scott specialized in marines and views of the Thames, and this panoramic wash drawing offers fascinating insights into his working process. Executed on several joined sheets of paper, it approximates the scale of many of the artist's paintings and depicts London's Westminster Bridge shortly before its November 1750 opening. Scott drew and painted the bridge from many vantage points during its eleven-year construction and kept the drawings for reference. To make the present work he positioned himself near the Southwark bank, looking upriver. Carefully observed details were combined with subtle washes applied to record light and shade. A ramshackle timber yard at left was one of many along the river. Busy ferrymen in the foreground use a new landing beyond the bridge, but will lose much of their trade once the span opens.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Westminster Bridge, the Surrey side
Artist: Samuel Scott (British, London ca. 1702–1772 Bath)
Date: ca. 1750
Medium: Watercolor and black chalk, with touches of pen and ink
Dimensions: sheet: 9 3/8 x 34 1/4 in. (23.8 x 87 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest and PECO Foundation and Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation Gifts, 2010
Object Number: 2010.231
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Samuel Scott

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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The Building of Westminster Bridge, Samuel Scott British, Oil on canvas — The Building of Westminster Bridge
Samuel Scott

Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland, Thomas Girtin British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) — Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland
Thomas Girtin
1796–97

Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints, Gideon Saint British, Pen and ink, engraving and etching — Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints
Gideon Saint
ca. 1760

Portrait of Emma Hamilton, Angelica Kauffmann Swiss, Black and white chalk, on gray prepared paper — Portrait of Emma Hamilton
Angelica Kauffmann
Lady Emma Hamilton
1791

The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons, Jacques Louis David French, Black chalk, pen and black and brown ink, brush and gray and brown wash, heightened with white gouache — The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons
Jacques Louis David
1787

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