A View near Matlock, Derbyshire

A View near Matlock, Derbyshire
Artist	Philip James de Loutherbourg
Year	1785
Type	Oil on canvas, landscape painting
Dimensions	90.5 cm × 140 cm (35.62 in × 57 in)
Location	Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut

A View near Matlock, Derbyshire is a 1785 landscape painting by the French-born British artist Philip James de Loutherbourg.[1] It portrays a scene near Matlock in Derbyshire, close to the village of Matlock Bath in the Derwent Valley. Men are show at work beneath a wooden conveyor designed to draw water from a lead mine.[2]

Born in Strasbourg, Loutherbourg settled in Britain in 1771 and was known for producing landscapes as well as his innovates set designs for the theatre.[3] The artist painted and exhibited a number of depictions of the county including around Dovedale. [4] In 1779 he had created a theatrical production at Drury Lane The Wonders of Derbyshire featuring scenic backdrops including Matlock.[5] Today the painting is in the Yale Center for British Art in Connecticut as part of the Paul Mellon Collection.[6] An engraving based on the painting was produced by Joseph Constantine Stadler, with a copy now in the British Museum.[7]

References

1. Swindells & Taylor p.275
2. https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:735
3. Murray p.695
4. Preston p.81
5. Swindells & Taylor p.275
6. https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:735
7. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1882-0311-1203

Bibliography

• Groves, Stephen. The Sound of the English Picturesque: Georgian Vocal Music, Haydn, and Landscape Aesthetics. Taylor & Francis, 2023
• Murray, Christopher John. Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850, Volume 2. Taylor & Francis, 2004.
• Preston, Lillian Elvira. Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg: Eighteenth Century Romantic Artist and Scene Designer. University of Florida, 1977.
• Swindells, Julia & Taylor, David Francis. The Oxford Handbook of the Georgian Theatre 1737-1832. OUP, 2014.