Thomas Jones, View on the River Wye, About 1776. Oil paint on millboard; 18 × 24 in. (45.7 × 61 cm). Gift of the Berger Collection Educational Trust, 2019.14

image height: 18 in, 45.7200 cm; image width: 24 in, 60.9600 cm; frame height: 21 1/4 in, 53.9750 cm; frame width: 27 1/16 in, 68.7388 cm; frame depth: 2 1/4 in, 5.7150 cm

European and American Art Before 1900

European Painting and Sculpture before 1900

This object is currently on view

Born in Wales, Thomas Jones trained in London with the founder of the British landscape school, Richard Wilson. From Wilson he learned the principles of the so-called classical or ideal landscape – a tranquil vista framed by graceful trees in the foreground and mountains along the distant horizon. Jones then adapted these principles to his native Wales. This picture records a view north of Monmouth on the English border. On the far riverbank are several carefully painted stone cottages, smoke rising from their chimney stacks. The hill beyond has been crowned with a walker’s “cairn.” These piles of stones marked the summit of a hill or mountain; whenever a walker reached the top, he deposited a stone to mark his visit.  

Private collection, England; sale, Sotheby’s, London, November 12, 1997, lot 92; from which acquired by William M. B. Berger and Bernadette Johnson Berger, Denver; Berger Collection Educational Trust; gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2019. Provenance research is on-going at the Denver Art Museum and we will post information as it becomes available. Please e-mail provenance@denverartmuseum.org, if you have questions, or if you have additional information to share with us.

• “Treasures from the Berger Collection: British Paintings 1400-2000” — Denver Art Museum, 10/2/2014 – 9/9/2018