On the Banks of the Tiber. 1865. Watercolour on off-white paper; 205/8 x 125/16 inches (52.3 x 31.3 cm). Private collection. Click on image to enlarge it.
This particular watercolour was probably painted near the mouth of the Tiber in a very rural area. Richard Green praised Moore’s Italian landscapes “as delightful examples of the family gift for accurate observation of a natural scene combined with delicate effects of light and colour. They evoke a mood of quiet peace, while at the same time giving a true record of the luminous skies and clear colours of a particular moment experienced in Rome or the surrounding Campagna” (111). It is unusual in that the middle distance with its rolling hills to the right is featured much more prominently than usual in Etruscan landscapes. A depiction of the Tiber River dominates the foreground with its steep banks.
When this watercolour was exhibited at the Dudley Gallery in 1865, F. G. Stephens in The Athenaeum expressed admiration: “On the Tiber (244), by Mr. J. C. Moore, is a very fine study of a sultry effect: the water is really admirably painted” (280). The critic of The Art Journal praised its lighting: “J. C. Moore, in his drawing ‘On the Tiber’ (244), catches local truth – nature in desolation, lit up by golden light.”
Bibliography
“General Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings.” The Art Journal New Series IV (1865): 110-11.
Green, Richard: The Moore Family Pictures. York City Art Gallery 1980.
Stephens, Frederic George. “Fine Arts. General Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings.” The Athenaeum No. 1948 (February 25, 1865): 279-80.
Last modified 18 December 2022