Artwork
River Landscape with a Bridge and a Church
River Landscape with a Bridge and a Church is a chalk drawing by the Romanticist artist Thomas Gainsborough. It dates from 1781 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
River Landscape with a Bridge and a Church is a drawing created by Thomas Gainsborough in 1781. It is executed in black chalk with white gouache on laid paper.
Subject & Meaning
The drawing depicts a serene rural scene featuring a river, a bridge, and a church. Two figures are shown standing on the bridge, adding a sense of human presence to the landscape.
Technique & Style
Gainsborough's use of black chalk and white gouache on laid paper gives the scene a soft, gentle appearance. The white gouache highlights add depth and luminosity to the drawing, characteristic of Gainsborough's mature style, which favored light palettes and quick execution.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English painter, draughtsman and printmaker who specialised in portrait and landscape painting.
Landscape with bridge
Mortham Tower, near Rokeby, Yorkshire.
Stoke-by-Neyland
Landscape with Abbey by a Stream
Bridge over the river at Helmsley, in Yorkshire,
Landscape
Four Men on a Stone Bridge
Stoke-by-Neyland
Fisherton Bridge, Salisbury
Cottage beside a Canal
Eltham bridge, Kent
Landscape, with church beside a river