Beschreibung:

Property from a Distinguished Private CollectionRichard Wilson, R.A.Penegoes, Powys 1713/14 - 1782 Colomendy, ClwydView on Hounslow Heath
monogrammed lower left (the R reversed and in compendium with W): RWoil on canvascanvas: 31¾ by 25⅝ in.; 80.6 by 65.1 cm.framed: 38 by 31¾ in.; 96.5 by 80.6 cm. Condition reportThe canvas has an old glue relining and is stable on its stretcher. The overall image reads well beneath a somewhat yellowed varnish and the paint surface appears quite well preserved with impasto visible in some areas. Inspection under UV reveals numerous tiny retouches to the craquelure visible throughout, but these have been very well applied. The painting can certainly hang as is. Offered in a carved giltwood frame. 
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.ProvenanceH. Pritchard Gordon, Esq.;
His sale, London, Christie's, 1 May 1925, lot 113 (to Agnew);
With Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London;
With Charles Nicholls and Son, Manchester, 1928;
Private Collection, France;
By whom anonymously sold, London, Sotheby's, 9 July 1986, lot 73;
With Richard L. Feigen & Co., New York;
Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 8 June 2007, lot 250.LiteratureW.G. Constable, Richard Wilson London 1953, under cat. no. 39b, p. 178;
M. Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: The British School, London 1959, p. 105;
J. Hayes, "An Unknown Drawing of Hounslow Heath," in The Burlington Magazine 106, no. 736 (July 1964), p. 339;
P. Spencer-Longhurst, et al., Richard Wilson Online Catalogue Raisonné, cat. no. P131B, accessed November 21, 2022.Exhibited(Possibly) London, Royal Academy, 1770, cat. no. 203;
London, Thos. Agnew & Sons, Exhibition of English Landscapes, November - December 1926, cat. no. 20;
New York, Richard L. Feigen & Co., Richard Wilson and the British Arcadia, 29 April - 25 June 2010, no. 12.Catalogue noteRichard Wilson, one of the leading classical landscapists of eighteenth-century England, depicted this view of Hounslow Heath on at least four occasions.1 Unlike the painter’s earlier British landscapes that featured culturally significant sites in an Italianate manner, this work illustrates the water meadows beside the River Crane just outside of London. Wilson rendered the rural landscape with a naturalism and straightforward sensibility in the manner of seventeenth-century Dutch painters. Such an image, glorifying the humble origins of English society, would have appealed to urban, middle-class collectors.
Of the four versions of Hounslow Heath, the present work most closely resembles what was considered by Constable, the author of the Wilson monograph, to be the prime version, commissioned by Tom Davies, the Bloomsbury bookseller, and now in the Tate Gallery, London (inv. no. 4458).    
This work has been fully accepted as an autograph Wilson since 1986, when it was cleaned by Alexander Dunlace, the chief conservator at the Tate Gallery, London, who discovered the artist’s monogram, lower left.  
1 Two versions are in the Tate London (inv. no. 5842, inv. no. 4458) and one is in a private collection, England.