Image scanned and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

A View of Westmorland

Artist George Morland (British, 1763-1804)

Date1792

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 40 1/2 x 56 1/2 in. (102.9 x 143.5 cm)
Overall, Frame: 49 1/4 x 65 1/4 in. (125.1 x 165.7 cm)

ClassificationsEuropean art

Credit LineGift of Morrie A. Moss, Memphis

Object number74.5.2

Terms

Landscape
People
Horse
Mountains
Green
Blue
White
Gray
Red
Yellow
Rococo
Romantic

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. A peasant family in the foreground, involved in an act of smuggling, approach a boat where two men await them. A lush landscape on the English coast surrounds them.

Label TextGeorge Morland English (1763-1804) A View of Westmorland, 1792 Oil on canvas Gift of Morrie A. Moss 74.5.2 The finest paintings of Morland's London career were his English country scenes of the early 1790s - picturesque views of stable interiors and landscapes with gypsies, smugglers, and peasants. Among them is his View of Westmorland, which combines an idyllic evocation of England's Lake District with a rustic scene from peasant life. In the painting a family proceeds toward the shore where two men await them in a boat. The woman's rather anxious, covert glance suggests that she and her family are actually involved in smuggling contraband, an activity often shown in Morland's landscapes. With landscapes like this, Morland forged a view of English country life that affected native artists for generations.