The Stream at Rest

Physical description

A landscape depicting a view of a stream. In the background on the left is a a wood, while to the right is a field. On the left of the painting, standing at the edge of the stream, and resting on a fence, are four figures.

Date

1848 (painted)

Artist/maker

Richard Redgrave, born 1804 - died 1888 (painter (artist))

Materials and Techniques

Oil on canvas

Marks and inscriptions

'Richd Redgrave 1848'

Dimensions

Height: 40.6 cm estimate, Width: 76.2 cm estimate, Height: 45.8 cm frame dimensions, Width: 81.8 cm frame dimensions

Object history note

This painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1849 (No.174). The inscription on a label at the back indicates that the painting was inspired by Thomson's Seasons: No.3 The Stream at rest
'why should the water love
To take so far a journey to the hills
When the sweet valleys offer to be their toil
Inviting quiet and a nearer bed
Thomson's Autumn.'

Historical context note

The artist was the first Keeper of the Department of Paintings of this Museum.

Descriptive line

Oil painting entitled 'The Stream at Rest' by Richard Redgrave. Great Britain, 1848.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990, p. 248
This is the full text of the catalogue entry:

"REDGRAVE, Richard, CB, RA (1804-1888)

Born Pimlico, London, 30 April 1804, the son of an engineer and manufacturer, in whose office he first worked as draughtsman and designer. Entered RA Schools 1826. Worked as a drawing master in the 1830s. Exhibited 141 works at the RA between 1825 and 1883, 17 at the BI 1832-59, and 20 (including four watercolours) at the SBA 1829-35 and 1870-9. Early works were landscapes and costume pieces, mainly l8th century and in the manner of C R Leslie; from the 1840s he specialised in modem genre and social comment, before returning to landscape, particularly around his home in Abinger, Surrey, relieving the pressure of his administrative duties. Elected ARA 1840, RA 1851; Secretary of the Etching Club 1837-42. In 1847 he began his official career in art education as Master at the Government School of Design, becoming Head Master in 1848, Art Superintendent 1852, Inspector General 1857, and Director 1874. He was Inspector of the Queen's Pictures, compiling a catalogue of the Royal Collection, 1857-79. As he wrote in 1856: 'I regret to find that I am so identified with office work that it is almost forgotten that I am a painter'
(F M Redgrave Richard Redgrave: A Memoir. . . p l 71 ). He published An Elementary Manual of Colour ... (1853), The Sheepshanks Gallery (1870), and, most famously, with his brother Samuel, A Century of Painters of the English School ... (2 vols, 1866). He was offered a Knighthood in 1869, which he declined; created Companion of the Bath 1880. Died Kensington, London, 14 December 1888. His daughters Frances (who compiled the Memoir of her father) and Evelyn were also exhibiting artists.

LIT: Art Journal 1850, pp48-9 (referred to below as the 'autobiography'), with engr portrait; Art JournalI1859, p206; Athenaeum 22 December 1888, pp854-5 (obit); F M Redgrave Richard Redgrave, CB, RA: A Memoir compiled from his diary 1891 (referred to below as Memoir); F G Stephens in Magazine of Art XV, 1891-2, pp26-9; ed S Casteras and R Parkinson Richard Redgrave 1804-1888 1988, V &A and Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, USA, exhibition catalogue

The Stream at Rest
P10-1967 Neg FG1261
Canvas, 40.6 X 76.2 cm (16 X 30 ins)
Signed and dated 'Richd Redgrave 1848' bl
Given by Mr and Mrs Frank M Greco 1967

Exhibited at the RA in 1849; the title was accompanied in the catalogue by the following quotation from Thornson's The Seasons ('Autumn'):

Why should the waters love
To take so far a journey to the hills,
When the sweet valleys offer their soil,
Inviting quiet, and a nearer bend?

Redgrave had contributed designs for wood-engravings to illustrate a 1842 edition of The Seasons; they do not relate to the present work.
The Athenaeum critic admired the attention to detail, and the Art Journal thought it 'one of those shaded passages of river scenery which this artist renders with such natural truth . . . The sentiment of the picture is charming, and the execution masterly'.

PROV: Probably John Gibbons, his sale Christie's 26 May 1894 (53), bought in £12 12s (the Christie's stencil on the back of the work refers to this lot; the sale catalogue gives the title as 'A place where the jack lie', a picture exhibited at the BI in 1846, and the size as '15½ by 31 inches', which is about correct for 'The Stream at Rest' while the BI catalogue gave the measurements as '17 by 24 inches', including the frame); sold Christie's 11 March 1949 (71), bought Roland (or Young, according to the V&A annotated catalogue) £3 3s; given to the museum by Mr and Mrs Frank M Greco 1967

EXH: RA 1849 (174); Richard Redgrave 1804-1888 V &A and Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1988, (91)
LIT: Athenaeum 26 May 1849, p548; Art Journal 1849, pp168-9; Casteras and Parkinson pp 131-2 (repr)

Ronald Parkinson."
Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1967 . London: HMSO, 1968.
Full text of entry is as follows:
REDGRAVE, Richard
The Stream at Rest.
Signed and dated Richd. Redgrave 1848.
Oil on canvas. (40.6 x 75 cm.) P.10-1967
Given by Mr. and Mrs. Frank M. Greco of Suffolk, Virginia, U.S.A.
Note: This painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1849 (No.174). The inscription on a label at the back indicates that the painting was inspired by Thomson's Seasons: No.3 The Stream at rest
'why should the water love
To take so far a journey to the hills
When the sweet valleys offer to be their toil
Inviting quiet and a nearer bed
Thomson's Autumn.'
The artist was the first Keeper of the Department of Paintings of this Museum.

Materials

Oil paint; Canvas

Techniques

Oil painting

Subjects depicted

Landscapes (representations)

Categories

Paintings

Collection code

PDP