An Arch of Old Waterloo Bridge
probably 1925/1930
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
graphite on wove paper; laid down on cardboard
Dimensions
Overall: 25.8 x 17.7 cm (10 3/16 x 6 15/16 in.) support: 33.6 x 24.5 cm (13 1/4 x 9 5/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mortimer Brandt, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art
Accession Number
1991.110.2
Art Historical Context
**An Arch of Old Waterloo** by Sir Muirhead captures a poignant architectural moment from London's past. Created probably between 1925 and1930, this intimate graphite drawing on wove paper depicts one of the sturdy stone arches of the original Waterloo, spanning the River Thames. Bone, a celebrated Scottish artist and Official War Artist during World War I, was renowned for his meticulous topographical drawings that preserved vanishing urban landscapes with remarkable precision and atmospheric depth. The "Old" Waterloo Bridge, built in 1817, symbolized Regency-era engineering until its demoli...
About the Artist
Sir Muirhead Bone
Sir Muirhead Bone (1876–1953), born David Muirhead Bone in Partick, Glasgow, to a journalist father and descended from a family of printers, showed early artistic promise. Apprenticed at fourteen first as a porcelain painter and then as an architect's draughtsman for four years, he honed his draughtsmanship while attending evening classes at the Glasgow School of Art under teachers Archibald Kay a...