- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- A View of the Town and Lake of Lugano
- Date
- 1787
- Medium
- Pen and grey ink, watercolour, gum
- Dimensions
-
- image width 360mm,
- image length 540mm
- Mount
- mounted by the artist
- Inscription
-
- sheet, recto, lower left
- “F.Towne 1787”
- in brown ink
- Inscription
-
- artist's mount, verso
- “A View of the Town, & Lake of Luguano / Drawn by / Francis Towne / 1787”
- in brown ink and “No8” in pencil in an eighteenth-century hand, perhaps Towne’s
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- FT536
- Description Sources
- Museum records; Bury 1962 (image)
Provenance
The drawing was brought into an Exeter shop in the 1950s (see the provenance given for its pair, FT535), where it was bought by Francis Gentry, who sold it at Sotheby’s on 9 November 1955, lot 35, for £450 to Agnew’s (no.8108), who sold it on 26 March 1956 to Wildenstein & Co for £517 10s. It was given anonymously in 1973 to the current owner, Rhode Island School of Design (73.204.50).
- Associated People & Organisations
- Rhode Island Museum of Art, School of Design, Providence, 1973, 73.204.50
- Wildenstein & Co, 26 March 1956, GBP 517.10s
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 9 November 1955, GBP 450, no.8108
- Sotheby's, London, London, 9 November 1955, lot 35
- Francis Gentry, Exeter, 1950
- Exhibition History
- 82nd Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1956, no. 22
- Bibliography
- Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, p. 89
- Timothy Wilcox, Francis Towne, Tate Publishing: London, 1997, p. 92
Other entries in Studio Watercolours, 1783–1800
Francis Towne
Much Wenlock, Shropshire, with the Ruins of the Priory Church
Much Wenlock, Shropshire, with the Ruins of the Priory Church
Francis Towne
The Wrekin, on the Road between Much Wenlock and Shrewsbury
The Wrekin, on the Road between Much Wenlock and Shrewsbury
Francis Towne
A View going from the Head of Lake Como over Mount Splugen
A View going from the Head of Lake Como over Mount Splugen
Francis Towne
The Campagna near Rome looking towards the Sabine Mountains
The Campagna near Rome looking towards the Sabine Mountains
Francis Towne
A View of Loreto with Part of the Adriatic Sea
A View of Loreto with Part of the Adriatic Sea
Francis Towne
A View near the Arco Scuro Looking towards the Villa Medici
A View near the Arco Scuro Looking towards the Villa Medici
Francis Towne
An Evening View from Mount Palatine looking towards Mount Aventine
An Evening View from Mount Palatine looking towards Mount Aventine
Francis Towne
A View on the Banks of the Tiber near Monte Milvio
A View on the Banks of the Tiber near Monte Milvio
Francis Towne
A View of the Temple of Venus looking towards the Island of Nisida
A View of the Temple of Venus looking towards the Island of Nisida
Francis Towne
Chateau de Glerolles, near Vevey on Lake Geneva
Chateau de Glerolles, near Vevey on Lake Geneva
Francis Towne
Abbey Valley Crucis, near Llangollen on the River Dee, North Wales
Abbey Valley Crucis, near Llangollen on the River Dee, North Wales
Francis Towne
A View on the Banks of the Dee above Llangollen
A View on the Banks of the Dee above Llangollen
Francis Towne
A View of the Bay of Naples with the Island of Capri
A View of the Bay of Naples with the Island of Capri
Revisions & Feedback
The website will be updated from time to time and, when changes are made, a PDF of the previous version of each page will be archived here for consultation and citation.
Please help us to improve this catalogue
If you have information, a correction or any other suggestions to improve this catalogue, please contact us.
Comment
This is a version of Towne’s 1781 sketch on the shore of Lake Lugano (FT346) and is a pair with the 1787 view of Lake Como in the same collection (FT535). Like the Como view, this is a sunset view with orange light coming over the mountains towards the left of the view. The two monks in the foreground allude to Towne’s viewpoint, at the monastery of S.Maria degli Angioli