Oil Painting, 'Landscape with Waterfall and Anglers', George Smith of Chichester, British School, ca. 1740 - 1776

A landscape with trees framing the foreground, between which, there is a waterfall with anglers and a river leading to a distant view with a village.

Purchased, 1874

George Smith, known as ‘Smith of Chichester’, painted rustic and pastoral scenes of his local Sussex and other parts of England, inspired by the French painter Claude Lorrain (1604/5?-82) and 17th-century Dutch landscape painters. In this unidentified view, he has employed the typical ‘Claudian’ device of framing an extensive view between trees, with a stretch of tranquil water winding its way into the distance. In drawing inspiration from Old Masters in this way, Smith may have been responding to the insatiable demand for their works by English collectors in the 18th century.

George Smith won the First Premium for landscape painting several times from the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce; 1760, 1761 and 1763. His reputation grew at a time when English landscape painting was in its infancy, and he was helped by the patronage of Charles Lennox, the 2nd Duke of Richmond, and through reproductions of his work by some of the leading engravers of his day including William Woollett (1735-1785), William Elliott (1727-66), James Peake (1729-82) and François Vivares (1708-1780).

This is an unidentified view inspired by the French painter Claude Lorrain and 17th-century Dutch landscape painters. George Smith’s reputation grew at a time when English landscape painting was in its infancy, and he was helped by the patronage of Charles Lennox, the 2nd Duke of Richmond, and through reproductions of his work by some of the leading engravers of his day.

1434-1874