Black Gang Chine is now a tourist attraction on the Isle of Wight. The chines are deep and narrow ravines cut into soft rock by streams descending steeply to the sea. They are numerous in the sea-cliffs of the Isle of Wight and the coast of Hampshire, and were much-admired geological features in the early 19th century. The ever-crumbling, steep, and sometimes sheer sides of the ravines framed a sublime and gloomy scene of an apparent chaos of mud, trees, vegetation and broken rocks, slowly sliding into the sea. The continual movement of the fertile soil and debris watered by the action of the stream encouraged a restless and luxuriant vegetation, much denser than in a field or forest, which gave an exotic quality to this feature of the English landscape. De Wint was most famous as a watercolourist, but here he shows his mastery of oil painting.
Place of Origin
Black Gang Chine, England (painted)
Date
ca. 1843 (painted)
Artist/maker
Peter de Wint, born 1784 - died 1849 (painter)
Materials and Techniques
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Height: 61 cm estimate, Width: 74 cm estimate, Height: 82 cm frame dimensions, Width: 95.7 cm frame dimensions, Depth: 7 cm frame dimensions
Object history note
Bequeathed by Joshua Dixon, 1886
Descriptive line
Oil painting, 'Black Gang Chine, Isle of Wight', Peter de Wint, ca. 1843
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Parkinson, R., Victoria and Albert Museum, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, London: HMSO, 1990, p. 70
The following is the full text of the entry:
"DE WINT, Peter (1784-1849)
Born Stone, Staffordshire, 21 January 1784, son of a doctor of Dutch extraction. Pupil of the portraitist in crayons and engraver John Raphael Smith 1802-6; entered RA Schools 1807. Exhibited 13 landscapes and topographical views at the RA between 1807 and 1828 and 11 at the BI 1808-24, but principally watercolours - 417 at the OWS 1808-49. Also worked for engravers of topographical books. Married the sister of his friend William Hilton RA. Lived many years in Lincoln, where the Usher Art Gallery has a fine collection of his work. Many watercolours and drawings also in the V&A collections. Died London 30 June 1849; his studio sale was at Christie's 22-28 May 1850.
LIT: Art Journal 1849, p260 (obit); W Armstrong Memoir of Peter De Wint 1888; H De Wint A Short Memoir ... privately printed c1900, reprinted in Smith; H Smith Peter De Wint 1982 (and for fuller bibliography)
Black Gang Chine, Isle of Wight
1036-1886 Neg 57163
Canvas, 61 x 74 cm (24 x 29 1/8 ins)
Dixon Bequest 1886
The chines (defined by OED as 'deep and narrow ravines cut in soft rock strata by a stream descending steeply to the sea') on the Isle of Wight and the Hampshire coast, were much admired geological features in the early 19th century. De Wint contributed an illustration of the subject to W B Cooke's 'Picturesque Views on the Southern Coast of England'; a copy of the etching (by G Cooke) of April 1816 is in the V&A collections (E2670-1928), although the volume was not published until 1826. Other volumes illustrated by the Cookes were 'A New Picture of the Isle of Wight ... ' (1808) and Sir H C Englefield's 'A Description of the Principal Picturesque Beauties ... of the Isle of Wight ... ' (1816). The engraved views of Black Gang Chine are different from the present work. De Wint exhibited only two Isle of Wight subjects, at the OWS in 1827 and 1843; a few were sold in his studio sale.
LIT: W Shaw Sparrow 'Peter De Wint' Studio special summer number 1903,
p(W)ix"
Vikutoria & Arub?to Bijutsukan-z? : eikoku romanshugi kaigaten = The Romantic tradition in British painting, 1800-1950 : masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum / selected by Mark Evans [Japan : Brain Trust], 2002. 185 p. : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 30 cm.
Exhibition History
The Romantic Tradition in British Painting 1800-1950: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Prefectural Museum of Art, Hyogo, Kobe, Japan 28/01/2003-06/04/2003)
The Romantic Tradition in British Painting 1800-1950: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Koriyama City Museum of Art 22/11/2002-27/12/2002)
The Romantic Tradition in British Painting 1800-1950: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Matsuzakaya Museum, Nagoya, Japan 19/10/2002-11/11/2002)
The Romantic Tradition in British Painting 1800-1950: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan 24/08/2002-06/10/2002)
Labels and date
30. Peter De Wint (1784-1849)
Black Gang Chine, Isle of Wight
Oil on canvas, 61 x 74 cm (29ΒΌ x 41 ins)
The chines are deep and narrow ravines cut in soft rock by streams descending steeply to the sea. They are numerous in the sea-cliffs of the Isle of Wight and the coast of Hampshire and were much-admired geological features in the early 19th century. The ever-crumbling, steep, and sometimes sheer sides of the ravines framed a sublime and gloomy scene of an apparent chaos of mud, trees, vegetation and broken rocks, sliding into the dissolving sea. The continual movement of the fertile soil and debris watered by the action of the stream encouraged a restless and luxuriant vegetation, much denser than in a field or forest, which gave an exotic quality to this feature of the English landscape. De Wint was most famous as a watercolourist, but here he shows his mastery of oil painting.
Bequeathed by Joshua Dixon, 1886 (1036-1886)
P.70 [2002]
Materials
Oil paint; Canvas
Techniques
Oil painting
Subjects depicted
Landscape; Waterfalls; Rainbow; Black Gang Chine
Categories
Paintings
Collection code
PDP
