Richard Wilson, English landscape with waterfalls

Richard Wilson (1714-1782), oil on canvas, 105 x 75 cm.

Richard Wilson was born in 1714 in Penegoes, Wales, the son of a clergyman. In 1729 he moved to London to study portraiture with Thomas Wright. Around 1746 he began to paint landscapes and the trip to Italy in 1750 confirmed his vocation as a landscape painter. 

He frequented Joseph Vernet (1714-1789), a French painter famous for his seascapes, and Raphael Mengs (1728-1779), a German neo-classical painter. Wilson painted classical landscapes and drawings of Roman sites and buildings for English aristocrats.  Back in London, he became a well-known teacher and produced classical landscapes which he exhibited as a member of the Society of Artists. In 1768, he was a founding member of the Royal Academy where he exhibited several dozen works until 1780.