Oil painting, 'Lake Scene with Boat and Anglers', George Smith of Chichester (1713/4-1776)

A landscape with anglers and trees framing the foreground, between which, a river winds its way to the distant hills beyond.

Bequeathed by John Jones

Bequeathed by John Jones, 1882
[John Jones 1800-1882]
Ref : Parkinson, Ronald, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860. Victoria & Albert Museum, HMSO, London, 1990. p.xix-xx

John Jones (1800-1882) was first in business as a tailor and army clothier in London 1825, and opened a branch in Dublin 1840. Often visited Ireland, travelled to Europe and particularly France. He retired in 1850, but retained an interest in his firm. Lived quietly at 95 Piccadilly from 1865 to his death in January 1882. After the Marquess of Hertford and his son Sir Richard Wallace, Jones was the principal collector in Britain of French 18th century fine and decorative arts. Jones bequeathed an important collection of French 18th century furniture and porcelain to the V&A, and among the British watercolours and oil paintings he bequeathed to the V&A are subjects which reflect his interest in France.

See also South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks. The Jones Collection. With Portrait and Woodcuts. Published for the Committee of Council on Education by Chapman and Hall, Limited, 11, Henrietta Street. 1884.
Chapter I. Mr. John Jones. pp.1-7.
Chapter II. No.95, Piccadilly. pp.8-44. This gives a room-by-room guide to the contents of John Jones' house at No.95, Piccadilly.
Chapter VI. ..... Pictures,... and other things, p.138, "The pictures which are included in the Jones bequest are, with scarcely a single exception, valuable and good; and many of them excellent works of the artists. Mr. Jones was well pleased if he could collect enough pictures to ornament the walls of his rooms, and which would do no discredit to the extraordinary furniture and other things with which his house was filled."

George Smith (1713/14-1776), known as ‘Smith of Chichester’, painted 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 meandering its way to distant hills. The rustic cottages nestled in the landscape recall those in paintings by Meindert Hobbema (1638-1709) and Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/9-82). 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. The V&A painting is very similar in its subject matter and composition to a landscape by George Smith in the Tate (NO4512).

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; he was helped by the patronage of Charles Lennox, the 2nd Duke of Richmond, and through the reproduction 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. He was helped by the patronage of Charles Lennox, the 2nd Duke of Richmond, and through the reproduction of his work by some of the leading engravers of his day.

593-1882