Wooded Landscape with a Man Crossing a Bridge
early 1780s
Medium
Black and white chalk, brush and gray ink, gray wash and with body color on tan paper
Dimensions
10 7/8 x 14 1/2 in. (27.6 x 36.8 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.882
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Gainsborough's *Wooded Landscape with Man Crossing a Bridge* (early 1780s) invites visitors into a tranquil English countryside scene, where a solitary figure traverses a rustic bridge amid dense trees and soft shadows. Created on tan paper using black and white chalk, and gray ink, gray, and body color, 10 7/8 x 14 1/2-inch drawing exemplifies the artist's masterful use of mixed media to evoke depth and atmosphere. The tan ground provides a warm base, allowing the subtle grays and whites to mimic misty woodland light. As a leading figure in 18th-century British art, Gainsborough bridg...
About the Artist
Thomas Gainsborough · 1727–1788
Thomas Gainsborough was born on 14 May 1727 in Sudbury, Suffolk, the youngest of nine children to wool dealer John Gainsborough and his wife Mary. Demonstrating prodigious talent from childhood, he sketched landscapes in the local woods and fields, fostering his lifelong passion for the genre. At age thirteen, he moved to London, where he trained under the French engraver and illustrator Hubert-Fr...