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Landscape with hills and a lake

ca. 1772
Not on view
In his writings, Gilpin encouraged his readers to seek the picturesque in nature, which he defined as "that peculiar kind of beauty which is agreeable in a picture." Nature was to be viewed and experienced like a landscape painting, with emphasis on composition, the harmony of light and dark masses, and overall effect rather than a precise description of topography. In this drawing of hills around a lake, with a small building precariously perched on a cliff, picturesqueness is achieved through the rough application of broad and bold washes of monochrome ink. In his Three Essays, displayed nearby, Gilpin wrote "Picturesque composition consists in uniting in one whole a variety of parts; and these parts can only be obtained from rough objects."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Landscape with hills and a lake
  • Artist: William Gilpin (British, Scaleby, Cumbria 1724–1804 Boldre, Hampshire)
  • Date: ca. 1772
  • Medium: Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash, on buff paper
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 10 13/16 × 14 3/8 in. (27.5 × 36.5 cm) (irregular)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, and Jeffrey L. Berenson Gift, 2012
  • Object Number: 2012.381
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Three Essays: On Picturesque Beauty; On Picturesque Travel; and On Sketching Landscape, William Gilpin British, Illustrations: aquatint with hand-coloring
Three Essays: On Picturesque Beauty; On Picturesque Travel; and On Sketching Landscape
William Gilpin
R. Blamire
1792
Landscape with hills, a lake, and figures, William Gilpin British, Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash, on buff paper
Landscape with hills, a lake, and figures
William Gilpin
ca. 1772
Observations relative chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, made in the year 1776, on several parts of Great Britain; particularly the High-lands of Scotland
William Gilpin
R. Blamire
1789
Observations relative chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, made in the year 1776, on several parts of Great Britain; particularly the High-lands of Scotland
William Gilpin
R. Blamire
1789
Remarks on forest scenery, and other woodland views, (relative chiefly to picturesque beauty) : Illustrated by the scenes of New-Forest in Hampshire, William Gilpin British
Remarks on forest scenery, and other woodland views, (relative chiefly to picturesque beauty) : Illustrated by the scenes of New-Forest in Hampshire
William Gilpin
R. Blamire
1791

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