Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779)
Richard Wilson (1712/13-1782)
1752
oil on canvas
The son of a clergyman, the Welsh landscape painter Richard Wilson was born in Penegoes, near Machynlleth. He trained in London as a portrait painter but turned to landscapes while travelling in Italy in 1750. When he returned to London he enjoyed the patronage of the aristocracy and painted Italianate scenes, country houses, Welsh views and grand mythological scenes. His pupils included the Welsh painter Thomas Jones (1742-1803).
This portrait was painted in Rome in exchange for one of Wilson's landscapes. Wilson is in fact shown in front of a landscape on which he is working. The pose, deceptively like a self portrait, creates an air of professional pride. Wilson later sold this painting to one of his most important patrons, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, who owned four landscapes by him.
Acquired with the assistance of the National Art Collections Fund, 1947
NMW A 113