Photography by Edward C. Robison III.
A Wooded Classical Landscape at Evening with Figures in the Foreground
Founding father Benjamin Franklin declared John Taylor among America’s geniuses, along with Benjamin West and John Singleton Copley. Unlike his companions, however, Taylor was never a professional artist in the colonies before traveling and settling permanently in England in 1762.
Taylor was born in Philadelphia in 1735, where his family was part of the in-crowd and his father was friends with Franklin. In the eighteenth century, Philadelphia was one of the largest cities in the colonies, with about 13,000 people in 1750.
ArtistJohn Taylor(1735-1806)
Date1772
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions48 x 57 x 3 1/2 in.
Signedl.r.: JTaylor 1772
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2011.13
ClassificationPainting
Provenanceto Henry Fane (artist’s brother in-law); by descent to John Fane [1751-1824]; by descent to John Fane [1775-1824]; by descent to John William Fane [1804-1875]; by descent to John Augustus Fane [1830-1908]; by descent to Francis Luther Fane [1865-1954]; by descent to John Coppleston Luther Fane [1933-2008] Wormsley Park, Oxfordshire, England; to estate of John Coppleston Luther Fane, 2008; to (Ben Elwes Fine Art, London, England), 2010; purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2011
On ViewNo
This artwork's face covers about 2.5× the area of a standard movie poster.Drawn to the same scale.