Lot 19: William Marlow (1740-1813)

View of Westminster from across the Thames; and View of St. Paul's and Blackfriars Bridge each signed 'W Marlow' (lower right) oil on canvas 281/4 x 361/2 in. (71.8 x 92.8 cm.) In Maratta frames a pair (2) PROVENANCE Lord Rossmore, Rossmore Park, Monaghan. EXHIBITION Dublin, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Exhibition of Paintings from Irish Collections, 20 May - 25 August 1957, nos. 88 and 93 Belfast, Belfast Museums and Art Gallery, Pictures from Ulster Homes, 10 May - 15 July 1961, no. 88 and 93 NOTES The first suggestions for a bridge at Westminster were made soon after the Restoration but were quashed by opposition from the City Corporation and the Thames watermen, who feared the loss of their livelihood. The growth of Westminster in the 18th century urgently increased the need for a bridge. Apart from taking a boat or using the horse ferry, anybody wanting to cross the bridge had to go round by Putney Bridge (which only opened in 1729), or use the overcrowded London Bridge. Finally, in 1738, the Swiss engineer Charles Labelye was appointed designer of the new bridge. The watermen were paid œ25,000 in compensation, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who owned the horse ferry, received œ21,025. After a temporary setback when one of the piers subsided in 1748, the bridge was finally opened to traffic in November 1750. Prominent in this view is Westminster Abbey which had been restored between 1698 amd 1723 when Sir Christopher Wren was Surveyor, and Hawksmoor's West Towers which had been completed in 1745. See lot 13 for details on Blackfriars Bridge. William Marlow was an apprentice of Samuel Scott and was greatly influenced by Canaletto who also painted views of Westminster Bridge, the most famous of which, Westminster Bridge from the North, on Lord Mayor's Day is in Yale Center for British Art. He specialised in Grand Tour views, panoramas of the gentry's country seats as well as river and London scenes. Marlow executed at least three versions of the above views. He exhibited two paintings of Blackfriars Bridge at the Society of Artists in 1774 and two further views of Blackfriars Bridge and Westminster at the Royal Academy in 1788. Versions of the pair are presently in the collection at Castle Howard and in the Guildhall Art Gallery, London (these latter are painted ovals and closely relate to the aquatints of the subjects published in 1777).