Rocky, Wooded Landscape with a Dell and Weir (c. 1782–1783): Art, History and Details

Rocky, Wooded Landscape with a Dell and Weir (c. 1782–1783) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727–1788).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In a sketchy manner, Gainsborough convincingly singled out the various elements comprising this sweeping landscape—meadow, rocks, trees—by only slightly varying colors and brushstrokes. At the same time, however, a great sense of unity prevails. Although the bulk of Gainsborough's artistic output was portraits, he insisted that landscape was his first love.

Object facts

• Title: Rocky, Wooded Landscape with a Dell and Weir
• Date: c. 1782–1783
• Creator attribution: Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727–1788)
• Culture: England, 18th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 89.5 x 110 x 8 cm (35 1/4 x 43 5/16 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 70.5 x 91 cm (27 3/4 x 35 13/16 in.)
• Collection: P - British before 1800
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1984.59

A detail from the museum

Gainsborough collected and was inspired by Dutch landscape painting.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Year in Review for 1984." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LXXII (April 1985): 163-207.
• Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Museum, 1991.
• Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.