Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 122

Bolton Abbey: Morning

Oil Painting
1847 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
Oil paintings showing ancient ruins in a romantic setting appealed to an intense nostalgia for the Medieval past. Such works were widely commissioned and collected from the end of the 18th century and remained popular throughout the 19th century.

Subjects Depicted
Bolton Abbey, a ruined Priory by the River Wharfe in the West Riding of Yorkshire, is located in a picturesque setting of wild moorland, much admired by artists. Queen Victoria particularly admired this painting when she visited the National Gallery of British Art, part of the South Kensington Museum in 1858.

People
Henry Cole, the first Director of this Museum, persuaded the successful painter and designer Richard Redgrave (1804-1888) to join him at the newly regenerated Schools of Design (the ancestors of the Royal College of Art). Redgrave was appointed in 1847, becoming Headmaster in 1848. Eventually Redgrave became Inspector-General for Art in 1857. Redgrave continued to exhibit his work at the Royal Academy until 1883, and became Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures from 1857 until 1880. He catalogued most of the paintings in the Royal Collection.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleBolton Abbey: Morning (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Oil on canvas
Brief description
Oil painting by Richard Redgrave entitled 'Bolton Abbey, Morning'. Great Britain, 1847.
Physical description
Oil on canvas depicting Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire
Dimensions
  • Height: 31.7cm
  • Width: 77.5cm
  • Depth: 9.3cm
  • Framed height: 58.3cm
  • Framed width: 102cm
Dimensions checked: Measured; 20/01/1999 by sf
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
'Richd Redgrave 1847' (Signed and dated by the artist on rock to left of centre foreground)
Gallery label
British Galleries: Queen Victoria admired this painting when she visited the National Gallery of British Art, part of the South Kensington Museum. It belongs to the tradition of picturesque landscape painting, which appealed to the British public of the period. The subject was not intended to make any social comment, as did many other new paintings of the time.(27/03/2003)
Credit line
Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857
Object history
Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857. By Richard Redgrave CB, RA (born in London, 1804, died there in 1888)

Exhibited at the Royal Academy 1848
Production
dated 1847
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
Object Type
Oil paintings showing ancient ruins in a romantic setting appealed to an intense nostalgia for the Medieval past. Such works were widely commissioned and collected from the end of the 18th century and remained popular throughout the 19th century.

Subjects Depicted
Bolton Abbey, a ruined Priory by the River Wharfe in the West Riding of Yorkshire, is located in a picturesque setting of wild moorland, much admired by artists. Queen Victoria particularly admired this painting when she visited the National Gallery of British Art, part of the South Kensington Museum in 1858.

People
Henry Cole, the first Director of this Museum, persuaded the successful painter and designer Richard Redgrave (1804-1888) to join him at the newly regenerated Schools of Design (the ancestors of the Royal College of Art). Redgrave was appointed in 1847, becoming Headmaster in 1848. Eventually Redgrave became Inspector-General for Art in 1857. Redgrave continued to exhibit his work at the Royal Academy until 1883, and became Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures from 1857 until 1880. He catalogued most of the paintings in the Royal Collection.
Bibliographic reference
Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990, pp. 244-45
Collection
Accession number
FA.172[O]

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Record createdMarch 5, 2001
Record URL
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