MONT SNOWDON / YR WYDDFA PEINT PAR J.M.W. TURNER

 

J.M.W. TURNER (1775–1851)
Mont Snowdon/ Yr Wyddfa (1, 085 m -3,560 ft)
Royaume Uni (Pays de Galles)

In "Llanberis Lake and Snowdon ", c.1799–1800, watercolor, Tate Britain

La montagne
Le Mont Snowdon (1, 085 m -3,560 ft) toponyme anglais signifiant « la colline enneigée » et en gallois Yr Wyddfa c'est-à-dire « le tumulus », est un sommet du Royaume-Uni qui constitue le point culminant du massif Snowdon et du pays de Galles. Il se situe dans le comté du Gwynedd, au sein du parc national de Snowdonia, créé en 1951, et de diverses autres zones de conservation destinées à protéger sa faune et sa flore rares au Royaume-Uni. C'est l'un des endroits les plus arrosés du pays. Ses roches, formées au cours de l'Ordovicien, sont d'origine volcanique et ont été fortement érodées lors des glaciations. Ainsi, ses cirques abritent plusieurs lacs glaciaires. Le premier homme à avoir officiellement atteint le sommet est Thomas Johnson en 1639. La montagne est intensivement occupée dès le début du XIXe siècle, aussi bien pour ses ressources minières que pour le tourisme. L'ascension est devenue courante grâce à des sentiers de randonnée pédestre et à un train à crémaillère, le Snowdon Mountain Railway, d'une longueur de 7,5 kilomètres, qui fait depuis 1896 la liaison entre le sommet et le village de Llanberis, si bien que le mont Snowdon est la montagne la plus gravie de Grande-Bretagne avec 350 000 personnes au sommet chaque année. Il est également possible d'y pratiquer l'escalade. Site entouré de mythes et de magie, il est particulièrement important dans la légende arthurienne. Merlin l'enchanteur aurait caché le trône en or de Bretagne parmi les falaises septentrionales du Crib Y Ddysg à l'époque de l'invasion saxonne de la Grande-Bretagne.

Le peintre
Joseph Mallord William Turner plus connu sous le nom de William Turner ou de ses initiales J. M. W. Turner, est un peintre, aquarelliste et graveur britannique. Initialement de la veine romantique anglaise, son œuvre est marquée par une recherche novatrice audacieuse qui le fait considérer, avec son contemporain John Constable, comme un précurseur de l'impressionnisme, voir de l'art abstrait. Renommé pour ses huiles, Turner est également un des plus grands maîtres anglais de paysages à l'aquarelle. Il y gagne le surnom de « peintre de la lumière ». La plus grande partie des œuvres de Turner est conservée à la Tate Britain. Il n'hésite pas à tester des combinaisons étranges d'aquarelle et d'huile ainsi que de nouveaux produits dans ses toiles. Parfois, il utilise même des matériaux inhabituels comme le jus de tabac et la bière vieillie, avec pour conséquence la nécessité des restaurations régulières de ses œuvres. Le peintre et critique d'art George Beaumont qualifie Turner et ses suiveurs comme Callcott de « peintres blancs » car ils mettent au point dès le début du XIXe siècle l'utilisation d'un fond blanc pour donner à leurs tableaux la fraîcheur des couleurs et la luminosité, permettant le passage direct des effets de l'aquarelle dans la peinture à l'huile, « effets tout à fait différents de ceux obtenus avec les fonds rouges ou bruns traditionnels des anciens Maîtres ».
Son passage d'une représentation plus réaliste à des œuvres plus lumineuses, à la limite de l'imaginaire (Tempête de neige en mer), se fait après un voyage en Italie en 1819 (Campo Santo de Venise). Turner montre le pouvoir suggestif de la couleur, ainsi, son attirance pour la représentation des atmosphères le place pour des critiques d'art comme Clive Bell, comme un précurseur de la modernité en peinture et de l'impressionnisme jusqu'à devenir « le peintre des incendies ». Mais il peint rarement sur le motif contrairement aux impressionnistes, qui feront de cette pratique une règle. Il préfère en effet recomposer en atelier les nuances des paysages, aidé de sa grande mémoire des couleurs. D'autres critiques préfèrent pousser plus loin encore leur analyse en voyant dans l'absence de lignes et de points de fuite ou la dissolution de la forme dans la couleur, notamment dans les marines de Turner, les prémices de l'abstraction lyrique, voire de l'action painting en gestation.

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2024 - Gravir les montagnes en peinture
Un blog de Francis Rousseau    

MORVEN SKETCHED BY A. G. CARRICK / H. M. THE KING CHARLES III

A. G. CARRICK / H.M KING CHARLES III former PRINCE OF WALES (bn.1948)
Morven / A' Mhòr Bheinn ((871 m -2858 ft)
United Kingdom (Scotland)

In View of Morven From Bovaglie, Balmoral, watercolour, 1994. Courtesy The  Royal Trust Collection

The mountain
Morven (871 m -2858 ft) in scottish galeic A' Mhòr Bheinn, is a Corbett (mountains between 2,500–3,000 feet (762.0–914.4 m) in height with a prominence over 500 feet (152.4 m); solely imperial measurement thresholds) in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It has not to be confused with Morven in in Caithness.
The poet, Lord Byron, who spent some of his childhood in the area, mentions the mountain in his poem, When I Roved a Young Highlander mentioned in it Mary Duff, his first love.
The hill gives its name to one of the houses at Aboyne Academy.

The painter
Arthur George Carrick is actually H.M. the King Charles III, former Prince of Wales.
When he began showing his paintings, he was too nervous to display his name so displayed under a pseudonym. Arthur George are two of his names (Charles Phillip Arthur George) and one of his titles is Earl of Carrick. King Charles III is an experienced watercolourist.  He has been painting for most of his adult life, during holidays or when his official diary allows. King Charles' interest began during the 1970s and 1980s when he was inspired by Robert Waddell, who had been his art master at Gordonstoun in Scotland. In time, King Charles met leading artists such as Edward Seago, with whom he discussed watercolour technique, and received further tuition from John Ward, Bryan Organ and Derek Hill.
The Royal Family has a tradition of drawing and painting, and King Charles’ work first came to public notice at a 1977 exhibition at Windsor Castle at which other Royal artists included Queen Victoria, The Duke of Edinburgh and The Duke of York.
King Charles paints in the open air, often finishing a picture in one go and his favourite locations include The Queen's estate at Balmoral in Scotland and Sandringham House in Norfolk, England. Sometimes King Charles  III paints during his skiing holidays, and during overseas tours when possible.
The copyright of King Charles' watercolours belongs to A. G. Carrick Ltd, a trading arm of The King's Charities Foundation. Over the years King Charles III has agreed to exhibitions of his watercolours and of lithographs made from them, on the understanding that any income they generate goes to The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation.
Money from the sale of the lithographs also goes to the Foundation but the paintings themselves are never for sale.
In the 1980s King Charles III, then Prince of Wales,  began inviting young British artists to accompany him on official tours overseas and record their impressions, a tradition that has continued to this day.
Reference :
- The prince of Wales paintings  

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2022 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

MOUNT SNOWDON PAINTED BY ALFRED DE BREANSKI Sr

ALFRED DE BREANSKI Sr. (1852-1928)
Mount Snowdon (1, 085 m -3,560 ft)
United Kingdom (Wales)

In Mount Snowdon at midnight,  oil on canvas, 50x72cm- Private collection

The mountain
Mount Snowdon (1, 085 m -3,560 ft),Yr Wyddfa in welsh, is the highest mountain in Wales and the highest point in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. A 1682 survey estimated that the summit of Snowdon was at a height of 1,130 m - 3,720 feet ; in 1773, Thomas Pennant quoted a later estimate of 1,088 m- 3,568 ft above sea level at Caernarfon. Recent surveys give the height of the summit as 1,085 m -3,560 ft. The name Snowdon is from the Old English for "snow hill", while the Welsh name – Yr Wyddfa – means "the tumulus" or "the barrow", which may refer to the cairn thrown over the legendary giant Rhitta Gawr after his defeat by King Arthur. As well as other figures from Arthurian legend, the mountain is linked to a legendary Afanc (water monster) and the Tylwyth Teg (fairies). Mount Snowdon is located in Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) in Gwynedd. It has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain", with approximately 444,000 people having walked up the mountain in 2016. It is designated as a national nature reserve for its rare flora and fauna. The rocks that form Snowdon were produced by volcanoes in the Ordovician period, and the massif has been extensively sculpted by glaciation, forming the pyramidal peak of Snowdon and the Arêtes of Crib Goch and Y Lliwedd. The cliff faces on Snowdon, including Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, are significant for rock climbing, and the mountain was used by Edmund Hillary in training for the 1953 ascent of Mount Everest.
The summit can be reached by a number of well-known paths, and by the Snowdon Mountain Railway, a rack and pinion railway opened in 1896 which carries passengers the 4.7 miles (7.6 km) from Llanberis to the summit station.

The painter
Alfred de Breanski Sr. is a British landscape painter best known for his idyllic but realistic depictions of rural Scotland and Wales. Thanks to the particular attention paid to the multiple textures, light and colouristic qualities of each landscape, it is evident that Breanski is deeply influenced by the work of John Constable. It is also inspired by the dramatic nature of the Scottish countryside such as the Highlands, noted for their stark beauty and spectacular scenery. Born in 1852 in Greenwich, England, he exhibited his works at the Royal Academy in London from 1872 to 1918. Today, his works are in the collections of the Southampton City Art Gallery, the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle and museums Brighton & Hove in East Sussex. De Breanski died in London in 1928.

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2022 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

THE TORRIDON HILLS SKETCHED BY WILLIAM TURNER OF OXFORD

 

WILLIAM TURNER OF OXFORD (1789-1862)
The Torridon Hills:
Beinn Alligin (986 m -3,235 ft)
Liathach (1, 055 m- 3,461 ft)
Beinn Eighe (1,010m -3,310 ft)
United Kingdom (Scotland)

In Before Sunrise, Loch Torridon, Rossshire,watercolor, 44,5 x 89 cm, 1856,
Courtesy John Mitchell Gallery, London

About this watercolor
At nearly three feet across this is one of William Turner’s largest known paintings, and belongs to the series of Scottish views which formed the major part of his output after his tour of Scotland undertaken in 1838. His expedition that year took him north from Inverness as far as Loch Inver, and then via Loch Torridon to Skye, whose hills and coast he explored thoroughly. The dramatic effect of the sun’s rays at dawn and the noble stag in the foreground combine with the grandiose scenery to conjure up all the appeal of Scotland which so captivated the popular spirit of the time; indeed, in studying this fresh and imposing watercolour, it is hard to escape the romantic overtones of Sir Walter Scott’s vision of the Highlands.
(From John Mitchell Gallery notice)

The painter
William Turner (1789-1862) was sent to London at the age of fifteen to take up an apprenticeship under John Varley, and was elected a full member of the Old Watercolour Society in 1808. It was in this period that J.M.W.Turner rose to fame, and as a result the younger artist became known as ‘Turner of Oxford’. His own reputation firmly established, he returned to his uncle’s estate at Shipton-under-Cherwell in 1812 and began to build up his practice as a drawing master in Oxford. His range of subject matter was vast, and he travelled throughout the British Isles in search of subjects – from the Wye Valley to the Lake District, from Wales and the Hebrides to the Isle of Wight, and he was a loyal exhibitor at the Society of Painters in Watercolour, submitting a total of 455 pictures, including this one. Turner of Oxford was described as follows: ‘Worthy and dignified, looking like a parson of the old school, dressed in black and wearing a white tie, he lived a hum-drum life at his house, 16 John Street, near Worcester College, where he resided from 1833 till his death on 7th August 1862’ (quoted in Martin Hardie, ‘William Turner of Oxford’, Old Watercolour Society’s Club, Vol. IX (1931-32). It is worth noting that in signing this present painting on the reverse, Turner includes his Oxford address.
(From John Mitchell Gallery notice)

The mountains
The Torridon Hills. The loch Torridon is surrounded by various mountains to the north, including Liathach, Beinn Alligin and Beinn Eighe, all of which are over 3,000 feet (910 m) in height. The Torridon Hills exhibit dramatic mountain scenery. The rocks of which they are made are known as Torridonian sandstone, some of which are crowned by white Cambrian quartzite. They are amongst the oldest rocks in Britain, and sit on yet older rocks, Lewisian gneiss.

Beinn Alligin (986 m -3,235 ft) on left , is one of the classic mountains of the Torridon region of Scotland, lying to the north of LochTorridon, in the Highlands. The name Beinn Alligin is from the Scottish Gaelic, meaning Jewelled Hill. The mountain has two peaks of Munro status: Tom na Gruagaich (922 metres -3,025 ft)) to the south, and Sgùrr Mhòr at 986 metres -3,235 ft) to the north. One of the most prominent features of Beinn Alligin is a great cleft known as Eag Dhubh na h-Eigheachd (black gash of the wailing) or Leum na Caillich, which cuts into the ridge south of the summit. It is the scar of the most spectacular rockslide or rock avalanche in Britain, which runs out into the corrie of Toll a' Mhadaidh Mor. It occurred around 3750 years ago and is around 3.5 million cubic metres in volume. According to local folklore shepherds on the mountain would hear cries from the gash; those who investigated the source of these cries would inevitably fall to their deaths. Beinn Alligin lies on the National Trust for Scotland's Torridon Estate, which has been owned by the charity since 1967, and forms part of both a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). 

Liathach  (1,055 m- 3,461 ft) in the center of the waterolor is a mountain in the Torridon Hills. It lies to the north of the A896 road, in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, and has two peaks of Munro status: Spidean a' Choire Lèith at the east of the main ridge, and Mullach an Rathain at the western end of the mountain. The name Liathach is pronounced in Scottish Gaelic, and means 'The grey one'. When seen from the roadside below, its slopes appear to rise up in a series of near vertical rocky terraces. 

Beinn Eighe (1,010m -3,310 ft)  on right is a complex mountain massif in the Torridon area of Wester Ross in the Highlands of Scotland. Lying to the south of Loch Maree, it forms a long ridge with many spurs and summits, two of which are classified as Munros. The name Beinn Eighe comes from the Scottish Gaelic meaning file mountain.[ Unlike most other hills in the area it has a cap of Cambrian basal quartzite which gives the peaks of Beinn Eighe a distinctive light colour. Its complex topography has made it popular with both hillwalkers and climbers and the national nature reserve on its northern side makes it an accessible mountain for all visitors.

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2021 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

MOUNT SNOWDON PAINTED BY J.M.W. TURNER

 

 

J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851)
Mount Snowdon (1, 085 m -3,560 ft)
United Kingdom (Wales)

In Mount Snowdon, Afterglow, oil on canvas, 1800, Tate

The mountain
Mount Snowdon (1, 085 m -3,560 ft),Yr Wyddfa in welsh, is the highest mountain in Wales and the highest point in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. A 1682 survey estimated that the summit of Snowdon was at a height of 1,130 m - 3,720 feet ; in 1773, Thomas Pennant quoted a later estimate of 1,088 m- 3,568 ft above sea level at Caernarfon. Recent surveys give the height of the summit as 1,085 m -3,560 ft. The name Snowdon is from the Old English for "snow hill", while the Welsh name – Yr Wyddfa – means "the tumulus" or "the barrow", which may refer to the cairn thrown over the legendary giant Rhitta Gawr after his defeat by King Arthur. As well as other figures from Arthurian legend, the mountain is linked to a legendary Afanc (water monster) and the Tylwyth Teg (fairies). Mount Snowdon is located in Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) in Gwynedd. It has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain", with approximately 444,000 people having walked up the mountain in 2016. It is designated as a national nature reserve for its rare flora and fauna. The rocks that form Snowdon were produced by volcanoes in the Ordovician period, and the massif has been extensively sculpted by glaciation, forming the pyramidal peak of Snowdon and the Arêtes of Crib Goch and Y Lliwedd. The cliff faces on Snowdon, including Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, are significant for rock climbing, and the mountain was used by Edmund Hillary in training for the 1953 ascent of Mount Everest.
The summit can be reached by a number of well-known paths, and by the Snowdon Mountain Railway, a rack and pinion railway opened in 1896 which carries passengers the 4.7 miles (7.6 km) from Llanberis to the summit station.

The painter
The english painter Joseph Mallord William Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence in the history of painting. Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting.  He is commonly known as "the painter of light" and his work is regarded as a Romantic preface to Impressionism.
In his thirties, Turner travelled widely in Europe, starting with France and Switzerland in 1802 and studying in the Louvre in Paris in the same year. He made many visits to Venice.  Turner's talent was recognized early in his life. Financial independence allowed Turner to innovate freely; his mature work is characterized by a chromatic palette and broadly applied atmospheric washes of paint. According to David Piper's The Illustrated History of Art, his later pictures were called "fantastic puzzles:" Turner was recognized as an artistic genius: influential English art critic John Ruskin described him as the artist who could most "stirringly and truthfully measure the moods of Nature."
Turner's major venture into printmaking was the Liber Studiorum (Book of Studies), seventy prints that he worked on from 1806 to 1819. The Liber Studiorum was an expression of his intentions for landscape art. The idea was loosely based on Claude Lorrain's Liber Veritatis (Book of Truth), where Lorrain had recorded his completed paintings; a series of print copies of these drawings, by then at Devonshire House, had been a huge publishing success. Turner's plates were meant to be widely disseminated, and categorized the genre into six types: Marine, Mountainous, Pastoral, Historical, Architectural, and Elevated or Epic Pastoral. His printmaking was a major part of his output, and a museum is devoted to it, the Turner Museum in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 1974 by Douglass Montrose-Graem to house his collection of Turner prints.
Turner placed human beings in many of his paintings to indicate his affection for humanity on the one hand (note the frequent scenes of people drinking or working or walking in the foreground), but its vulnerability and vulgarity amid the 'sublime' nature of the world on the other. 'Sublime' here means awe-inspiring, savage grandeur, a natural world unmastered by man, evidence of the power of God – a theme that romanticist artists and poets were exploring in this period. Although these late paintings appear to be 'impressionistic' and therefore a forerunner of the French school, Turner was striving for expression of spirituality in the world, rather than responding primarily to optical phenomena.
Turner used pigments like carmine in his paintings, knowing that they were not long-lasting, despite the advice of contemporary experts to use more durable pigments. As a result, many of his colours have now faded greatly.
John Ruskin says in his "Notes" on Turner in March 1878 : "His true master was Dr Monro; to the practical teaching of that first patron and the wise simplicity of method of watercolour study, in which he was disciplined by him and companioned by Girtin, the healthy and constant development of the greater power is primarily to be attributed; the greatness of the power itself, it is impossible to over-estimate. "

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2021 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

BEN LOMOND/ BEINN LAOMAINN PAINTED BY ALFRED DE BREANSKI Sr.

ALFRED DE BREANSKI Sr. (1852-1928)
Ben Lomond / Beinn Laomainn (974 m - 3,196 ft)
United Kingdom (Scotland)

In Head of Loch Lomond, Scotland, Oil on canvas, 16" x 24".

The mountain

Ben Lomond / Beinn Laomainn (974 m- 3,196 ft) is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands, not to be confused with Ben Lomond/Turbunna (Autstralia) is  situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros, Scotland. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Memorial Park and the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, property of the National Trust for Scotland. Its accessibility from Glasgow and elsewhere in central Scotland, together with the relative ease of ascent from Rowardennan, makes it one of the most popular of all the Munros. On a clear day, it is visible from the higher grounds of Glasgow and across Strathclyde; this may have led to it being named 'Beacon Mountain', as with the equally far-seen Lomond Hills in Fife. Ben Lomond summit can also be seen from Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Britain, over 40 miles (64 km) away. The West Highland Way runs along the western base of the mountain, by the loch. Ben Lomond's popularity in Scotland has resulted in several namesakes in the former British colonies of Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States.

 

The painter 

Alfred de Breanski Sr. is a British landscape painter best known for his idyllic but realistic depictions of rural Scotland and Wales. Thanks to the particular attention paid to the multiple textures, light and colouristic qualities of each landscape, it is evident that Breanski is deeply influenced by the work of John Constable. It is also inspired by the dramatic nature of the Scottish countryside such as the Highlands, noted for their stark beauty and spectacular scenery. Born in 1852 in Greenwich, England, he exhibited his works at the Royal Academy in London from 1872 to 1918. Today, his works are in the collections of the Southampton City Art Gallery, the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle and museums Brighton & Hove in East Sussex. De Breanski died in London in 1928.

 
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2021 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

MOUNT SNOWDON FROM LLYN Y DDINAS BY SIDNEY RICHARD PERCY

SIDNEY RICHARD PERCY (1821-1886)
Mount Snowdon (1, 085 m -3,560 ft)
United Kingdom (Wales)

In Llyn-y-Ddinas, North Wales, Mount Snowdon in the background (1873), Oil on canvas, 45.5 x 76 cm. Private Collection

 
The mountain
Mount Snowdon (1, 085 m -3,560 ft),Yr Wyddfa in welsh, is the highest mountain in Wales and the highest point in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. A 1682 survey estimated that the summit of Snowdon was at a height of 1,130 m - 3,720 feet ; in 1773, Thomas Pennant quoted a later estimate of 1,088 m- 3,568 ft above sea level at Caernarfon. Recent surveys give the height of the summit as 1,085 m -3,560 ft. The name Snowdon is from the Old English for "snow hill", while the Welsh name – Yr Wyddfa – means "the tumulus" or "the barrow", which may refer to the cairn thrown over the legendary giant Rhitta Gawr after his defeat by King Arthur. As well as other figures from Arthurian legend, the mountain is linked to a legendary Afanc (water monster) and the Tylwyth Teg (fairies). Mount Snowdon is located in Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) in Gwynedd. It has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain", with approximately 444,000 people having walked up the mountain in 2016. It is designated as a national nature reserve for its rare flora and fauna. The rocks that form Snowdon were produced by volcanoes in the Ordovician period, and the massif has been extensively sculpted by glaciation, forming the pyramidal peak of Snowdon and the Arêtes of Crib Goch and Y Lliwedd. The cliff faces on Snowdon, including Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, are significant for rock climbing, and the mountain was used by Edmund Hillary in training for the 1953 ascent of Mount Everest.
The summit can be reached by a number of well-known paths, and by the Snowdon Mountain Railway, a rack and pinion railway opened in 1896 which carries passengers the 4.7 miles (7.6 km) from Llanberis to the summit station.

The painter
Sidney Richard Percy had his greatest success painting landscapes of grazing cattle, typically set against backgrounds of distant mountains and cloudy skies. The prevailing hues of his landscapes are earth tones and soft greens, accentuated by a variety of pastel hues. The detail in his work is part of its appeal, and "it was remarked that his rocks and stones were sufficiently accurate to have served as illustrations to the writings of Sir Roderick Murchison, the popular 19th-century geologist." Llyn-y-Ddinas, North Wales, (see above) one of his more popular works on the internet, displays these qualities. He also painted landscapes of farm fields, wheel-rutted country roads, and the occasional boat scene on a lake. Although he generally painted in oils, a number of small watercolors on cardboard exist, typically unsigned, that are his work. The family, and his son the painter Herbert Sidney Percy in particular, referred to these as "potboilers", meaning that they were quickly, and often crudely executed, yet easily and cheaply sold "to put food on the table" when working on larger, more time-consuming oils for exhibition, or commissions. Many of these watercolor "potboilers" were done in the field, and then brought back to the studio to refer to when executing a more formal oil on canvas.
Sidney Richard Percy was extremely popular during the early part of his career, which for a short time brought him a fair amount of income. Among his patrons during this time was Prince Albert the Royal consort who in 1854 gave Percy's landscape of A view of Llyn Dulyn, North Wales, which had just been exhibited at the Royal Academy, as a gift to his wife Queen Victoria. This painting still hangs today in the Royal Collection. Unfortunately Sidney Richard Percy outlived his popularity, and the art world was more excited about impressionism and other styles than landscapes when he died. Today though, his work is much sought after, and his better paintings bring much higher prices in auction than any of those of his brethren in the Williams family.
When the Athenaeum in 1886 (i. 592) ran an obituary for Sidney Richard Percy they called him, "the well-known and popular painter, founder of the so-called School of Barnes . . ." Although depending on the context of what is meant by the so-called Barnes School, this is a bit of an injustice to his father Edward Williams, whom it might be argued is the founder of the Barnes School of painters, but it illustrates the popularity that Sidney Richard Percy held with the art-buying public of his day.

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2021 - Wandering Vertexes / Mountain paintings
By Francis Rousseau

BEN NEVIS PAINTED BY JAMES ALFRED AÏIKEN

 

JAMES ALFRED AITKEN (1846-1897)

Ben Nevis (1,344 m - 4, 118 ft)

United KIngdom  (Scotland)

In  Ben Nevis- The First Snow, Glasgow Museums Resource Centre

The mountain 

Ben Nevis  (1,344 m - 4, 118 ft)  in Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Nibheis is the highest mountain in the British Isles, located in Scotland, at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands, close to the town of Fort William.
The mountain is a popular destination, attracting an estimated 100,000 ascents a year, around three-quarters of which use the Pony Track from Glen Nevis. The 700 metre - 2,300 ft cliffs of the north face are among the highest in Scotland, providing classic scrambles and rock climbs of all difficulties for climbers and mountaineers. They are also the principal locations in Scotland for ice climbing.
The summit, which is the collapsed dome of an ancient volcano, features the ruins of an observatory which was continuously staffed between 1883 and 1904. The meteorological data collected during this period are still important for understanding Scottish mountain weather. C. T. R. Wilson was inspired to invent the cloud chamber after a period spent working at the observatory.
More about Ben Nevis 

The painter
James Alfred Aitken was a Scottish landscape painter.
Aitken studied art with Horatio McCulloch, before moving to Dublin. There he attended the Royal Dublin Society's school, and had Henry MacManus as teacher.]
In 1872 Aitken moved to Glasgow. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, Glasgow Institute and Royal Hibernian Academy.


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2020 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

THE LANGDALE PIKES BY WILLIAM T. LONGMIRE

 

WILLIAM TAYLOR LONGMIRE (1841-1914)

The Langdale Pikes (739 m - 2,424 ft)

United Kingdom ( England)

The mountains
The Langdale Pikes range (739 m - 2,424 ft) rises along the northern slope of the Great Langdale Valley (Cumbria, England). The Langdale Pikes are (from west to east) the Pike of Stickle, the Loft Crag, the Harrison Stickle and Pavey Ark. From the valley, it take on the appearance of a steep rocky ridge, but only the southern slope actually has steep peaks; on the north slope, the slopes gently incline towards High Raise, twin summit of this range. Harrison Stickle (739 m - 2,424 ft) is the highest point of the Langdale Pikes; Pike of Stickle is 700 m - 2,296 ft high ; Loft Crag (682m-2,237ft )is located halfway between Harrison Stickle and Pike o ’Stickle ; The last peak iof the range is Pavey Ark (700 m - 2,296 ft ).

The painter
William T. Longmire was expected to follow in his father’s steps and become a farmer but, encouraged to paint by the local vicar, he had set himself up in a studio in Ambleside by the age of thirty, following in the footsteps of William Green and Harriet Martineau. Unlike Martineau and Green, Longmire was born and grew up in Westmorland, making him a pioneer in looking beyond a life as a farmer, instead taking advantage of the continued growth in tourism. He is well known for his numerous watercolours of english landscape in which he frequently depicted sheeps!

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2020 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

BEN VRACKIE BY GEORGE FENNEL ROBSON

 

GEORGE FENNEL ROBSON  (1788-1833) 

Ben Vrackie (841m - 2,759 ft)

United Kingdom  (Scotland)

The mountain
Ben Vrackie (841m - 2759 ft)  is a mountain in Perthshire, Scotland. It lies north of the town of Pitlochry. The summit may be reached easily by a direct path from Pitlochry or Killiecrankie, and commands views of Pitlochry and the surrounding glens.
cotland has approximately 221 hills as of 2018 Scotland is the most mountainous country in the United Kingdom.


The painter 
George Fennell Robson was an English watercolour painter. He received instruction in drawing from a Mr. Harle of Durham. In 1806 he went to London with £5 in his pocket.
Robson began to exhibit at the Royal Academy in 1807, in 1810 landscapes in the Bond Street gallery of the Associated Painters, where he was a member, and in 1813 with the Society of Painters in Oil and Watercolours. At the anniversary meeting on 30 November 1819 he was elected president of the last society, for a year. Robson was an honorary member of the Sketching Society, but weakness of sight prevented him from drawing at their evening meetings.
More about the painter 

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2020 - Wandering Vertexes...
Un blog de Francis Rousseau

CARNEDD LLEWELYN PAINTED BY SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS

SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS (1918-2006)

Carnedd Llewelyn (1,064 m -3,491 ft)

United Kingdom (Wales)

In Farmers on the Carneddau (c. 1980) Oil on canvas, Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum of Wales, Cardiff

The mountain 
Carnedd Llewelyn (1,064 m -3,491 ft) , usually spelt Carnedd Llywelyn in Welsh, is a mountain massif in the Carneddau range in Snowdonia, north-west Wales. It is the highest point of the Carneddau and the second highest peak by relative height in Wales, 49th in the British Isles and lies on the border between Gwynedd and Conwy.
Carnedd Llywelyn means "Llywelyn's cairn" in Welsh. It is widely believed that Carnedd Llewelyn and the neighbouring Carnedd Dafydd are named after Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and his brother Dafydd ap Gruffudd, the last independent prince of Wales, respectively. An alternative theory is that the twin peaks are named after Llywelyn the Great, an earlier prince of Gwynedd, and his son and successor, Dafydd ap Llywelyn. Other sources cite a combination of the above, i.e. Llywelyn the Great and Dafydd ap Gruffudd.
The spelling of the name is also controversial. Carnedd Llewelyn is the form used by the Ordnance Survey, the mapping agency for Great Britain, and other sources.  In Wales the spelling Carnedd Llywelyn predominates (it is used on the website of the Snowdonia National ParkAuthority, for example); this is also the form preferred by most Welsh writers, among others. Many authoritative works, from other study groups, also use the Welsh form.  The Welsh personal name Llywelyn, from which the mountain's name is derived, is always spelt thus in the Welsh language, although the forms Llewelyn and Llewellyn are found in older English-language sources.

The painter
Sir John "Kyffin" Williams, KBE, RA was a Welsh landscape painter who lived at Pwllfanogl, Llanfairpwll, on the Island of Anglesey. Williams is widely regarded as the defining artist of Wales during the 20th century.
His works typically drew inspiration from the Welsh landscape and farmlands. His works may be seen in a permanent exhibition in the Oriel Kyffin Williams Gallery which opened in 2008 at Oriel Ynys Môn in Llangefni, Anglesey, as well as at many other galleries elsewhere in Britain. He was president of the Royal Cambrian Academy and was appointed a member of the Royal Academy in 1974. In 1995 Williams received the Glyndŵr Award for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales during the Machynlleth Festival. He was awarded the OBE for his services to the arts in 1982 and a KBE in 1999.
The Kyffin Williams Drawing Prize was established in 2009. The winning works from the 2018 prize are due to be exhibited at the Oriel Kyffin Williams Gallery.
In February 2011 it was announced that Williams' paintings of Patagonia would be shown for the first time. His last passport, on show in the Oriel Ynys Môn gallery at Llangefni, 2004–2014, has the name Sir John Williams. Kyffin was his grandmother's maiden name.
Williams' works are held in many public collections, including the Government Art Collection, the Arts Council Collection and the National Museum of Wales.
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2020 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

MOELWYN MAWR PAINTED BY SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS

SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS (1918-2006)

Moelwyn Mawr (770 m - 2,530 ft)

United Kingdom ( Wales) 

In The Moelwyn in winter, oil on canvas 

The mountain 
Moelwyn Mawr  (770 m - 2,530 ft) is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales and forms part of the Moelwynion. Its summit overlooks the Vale of Ffestiniog and has views in all directions. is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales and forms part of the Moelwynion. Its summit overlooks the Vale of Ffestiniog and has views in all directions.

Slate quarrying was a major industry for many years in the Moelwynion. Moelwyn Mawr's flanks have several major quarries on them. To the west is Croesor Quarry perched high above Cwm Croesor. To the north west is Rhosydd Quarry on the col between Cwm Croesor and Cwm Orthin. Within Cwm Orthin, Conglog and Wrysgan quarries are located on the north slope of the mountain. Within Cwm Ystradau to the east lies Moelwyn Slate Quarry.

In 1990, Moelwyn Mawr was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest of national scientific importance. The glaciated landscape of the mountain provides fine examples of two specific Pleistocene features. On the north-east flank of the mountain is a terrain of patterned ground, consisting of small-scale vegetated stripes. On the west side, a debris tongue formed by a rock glacier extends into Cwm Croesor.

The painter
Sir John "Kyffin" Williams, KBE, RA was a Welsh landscape painter who lived at Pwllfanogl, Llanfairpwll, on the Island of Anglesey. Williams is widely regarded as the defining artist of Wales during the 20th century.
His works typically drew inspiration from the Welsh landscape and farmlands. His works may be seen in a permanent exhibition in the Oriel Kyffin Williams Gallery which opened in 2008 at Oriel Ynys Môn in Llangefni, Anglesey, as well as at many other galleries elsewhere in Britain. He was president of the Royal Cambrian Academy and was appointed a member of the Royal Academy in 1974. In 1995 Williams received the Glyndŵr Award for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales during the Machynlleth Festival. He was awarded the OBE for his services to the arts in 1982 and a KBE in 1999.
The Kyffin Williams Drawing Prize was established in 2009. The winning works from the 2018 prize are due to be exhibited at the Oriel Kyffin Williams Gallery.
In February 2011 it was announced that Williams' paintings of Patagonia would be shown for the first time. His last passport, on show in the Oriel Ynys Môn gallery at Llangefni, 2004–2014, has the name Sir John Williams. Kyffin was his grandmother's maiden name.
Williams' works are held in many public collections, including the Government Art Collection, the Arts Council Collection and the National Museum of Wales.
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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

THE LLANBERIS PASS PAINTED BY DAVID CHARLES READ

DAVID CHARLES READ (1790-1851) 

The Llanberis Pass  (359 m - 1,178 ft)

United Kingdom  (Wales)

In The Pass of Llanberis, oil on panel, Ashmolean Museum 

The pass
The Llanberis Pass  (359 m - 1,178 ft) lies between the mountain massifs of Snowdon and the Glyderau in the county of Gwynedd, in northwestern Wales, United Kingdom. The summit of the pass is 359 m (1,178 ft) above sea level, and is the site of the Pen-y-Pass Hotel, now a Youth Hostel. The A4086 road traverses the pass. The Nant Peris valley lies to the northwest descending to the town of Llanberis, the Llyn Peris and Llyn Padarn lakes and continues on as the Afon Rhythallt to Caernarfon and the Menai Strait. The valley is narrow, straight and steep-sided, with rocky crags and boulders on either side of the road.
The Cromlech Boulders are used for bouldering. These roadside boulders were saved from destruction in a 1973 road widening scheme by a six-year protest by local people, climbers, historians, conservationists and geologists.
Climbers particularly associated with the area include John Menlove Edwards (in the 1930s and 1940s) and Joe Brown (in the 1950s and 1960s). The British 1953 Mount Everest expedition also trained in the area, and were based at the Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel at the eastern end of the pass.

The painter
David Charles Read (1790–1851) was an English painter and etcher. In early days, Read engraved plates for a Pilgrim's Progress published by William Sharp at Romsey (1816–17), and other works. He worked mainly in the open air. In 1826 he began etching, and produced plates to 1844: the total number of his etchings is 237. Sixteen of those were portraits; the rest are landscapes. Technically, Read's work is interesting from the use of dry-point, unusual with English etchers of the period.
Read sent his earliest plates to be printed in London, but then obtained a press and made the impressions. Six series of etchings were published by him between 1829 and 1845. The fifth of these (1840) was a series of thirteen views of the English lakes. The remainder were selected from his miscellaneous works. Two series were dedicated to Queen Adelaide. In 1845 he destroyed 63 of the plates; the rest were destroyed by his family after his death.
On his return from Italy, Read concentrated on painting in oils, producing some pictures for Dr. Coope between 1846 and 1849, though he did not exhibit after 1840. Between 1823 and 1840 he sent one landscape to the Royal Academy, seven to the British Institution, and six to the Suffolk Street Gallery.
Read etched his own portrait from a water-colour sketch by John Linnell (1819). A short catalogue of the etchings was printed at Salisbury in 1832. An exhaustive manuscript catalogue, with a memoir of the artist, compiled (1871–4) by his son, Raphael W. Read, F.R.C.S., went to the print-room at the British Museum.
Read presented to the British Museum in 1833 and 1842 two volumes containing 168 of his etchings. Another collection, formed by his patron Chambers Hall, went to the university ga galleries, Oxford, and then to the Ashmolean Museum; a third was at Bridgewater House, collected by Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere.

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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...

by Francis Rousseau 

BEN SLIOCH PAINTED BY JAMES MC INTOSH PATRICK

JAMES MC INTOSH PATRICK ( 1907-1998)

Ben Slioch ( 981m - 3218 ft) 

United Kingdom (Scotland) 

In Ben Slioch and Loch Maree, Private collection 

The mountain
Ben Slioch (981m - 3218 ft) is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands situated in Wester Ross, eight kilometres north of the village of Kinlochewe and towers above the south east end of Loch Maree to give one of the best known and most photographed sights (from the A832 road) in the Highlands. VisitScotland, the Scottish national tourist agency, has used video footage of Slioch in its television advertisements.The mountain is composed of Torridonian sandstone on a base of Lewisian Gneiss and has steep crags on three sides and allows easy access for the walker only from the south east where the large open corrie of Coire na Sleaghaich has two ridges on its flanks which the walker can use. The mountain's name comes from the Gaelic word “sleagh” and means “the spear” and this only becomes obvious when Slioch is viewed from Lochan Fada to the west, from here the subsidiary top of Sgurr an Tuill Bhain(Peak of the White Hollow) (933 metres) dominates as a slender peak and gives the mountain its name. Wild goats are often seen on the mountain.

The artist
James McIntosh Patrick was a Scottish painter, celebrated for his finely observed paintings of the Angus landscape and Dundee, Scotland, where he was based for most of his life.
 In 1999 the Patrick family donated his archives to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
To celebrate its victory in the 1983 University Challenge competition, the University of Dundee commissioned Patrick to produce to two paintings of its campus.  Other examples of Patrick's works held as part of the University's fine art collections include portraits of Principal Angus Robertson Fulton and Arthur Alexander Matheson.

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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...

by Francis Rousseau 

MOUNT SNOWDON PAINTED BY SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS

SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS (1918-2006)

Mount Snowdon (1, 085 m -3,560 ft) 

United Kingdom (Wales)

The mountain
Mount Snowdon (1, 085 m -3,560 ft),Yr Wyddfa in welsh, is the highest mountain in Wales and the highest point in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. A 1682 survey estimated that the summit of Snowdon was at a height of 1,130 m - 3,720 feet ; in 1773, Thomas Pennant quoted a later estimate of 1,088 m- 3,568 ft above sea level at Caernarfon. Recent surveys give the height of the summit as 1,085 m -3,560 ft. The name Snowdon is from the Old English for "snow hill", while the Welsh name – Yr Wyddfa – means "the tumulus" or "the barrow", which may refer to the cairn thrown over the legendary giant Rhitta Gawr after his defeat by King Arthur. As well as other figures from Arthurian legend, the mountain is linked to a legendary Afanc (water monster) and the Tylwyth Teg (fairies). Mount Snowdon is located in Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) in Gwynedd. It has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain", with approximately 444,000 people having walked up the mountain in 2016. It is designated as a national nature reserve for its rare flora and fauna. The rocks that form Snowdon were produced by volcanoes in the Ordovician period, and the massif has been extensively sculpted by glaciation, forming the pyramidal peak of Snowdon and the Arêtes of Crib Goch and Y Lliwedd. The cliff faces on Snowdon, including Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, are significant for rock climbing, and the mountain was used by Edmund Hillary in training for the 1953 ascent of Mount Everest.
The summit can be reached by a number of well-known paths, and by the Snowdon Mountain Railway, a rack and pinion railway opened in 1896 which carries passengers the 4.7 miles (7.6 km) from Llanberis to the summit station.

The painter
Sir John "Kyffin" Williams, KBE, RA was a Welsh landscape painter who lived at Pwllfanogl, Llanfairpwll, on the Island of Anglesey. Williams is widely regarded as the defining artist of Wales during the 20th century.
His works typically drew inspiration from the Welsh landscape and farmlands. His works may be seen in a permanent exhibition in the Oriel Kyffin Williams Gallery which opened in 2008 at Oriel Ynys Môn in Llangefni, Anglesey, as well as at many other galleries elsewhere in Britain. He was president of the Royal Cambrian Academy and was appointed a member of the Royal Academy in 1974. In 1995 Williams received the Glyndŵr Award for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales during the Machynlleth Festival. He was awarded the OBE for his services to the arts in 1982 and a KBE in 1999.
The Kyffin Williams Drawing Prize was established in 2009. The winning works from the 2018 prize are due to be exhibited at the Oriel Kyffin Williams Gallery.
In February 2011 it was announced that Williams' paintings of Patagonia would be shown for the first time. His last passport, on show in the Oriel Ynys Môn gallery at Llangefni, 2004–2014, has the name Sir John Williams. Kyffin was his grandmother's maiden name.
Williams' works are held in many public collections, including the Government Art Collection, the Arts Council Collection and the National Museum of Wales.
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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

BEN CRUACHAN BY THOMAS MILES RICHARDSON II

THOMAS MILES RICHARDSON II (1813-1890) 

Ben Cruachan (1,126 m- 3,964 ft)

United Kingdom (Scotland) 

  In Ben Cruachan, Loch Etive, 1836, watercolour and gouache, with graphite and gum arabic on brown paper, Portland Art museum 

The mountain 

Ben Cruachan (1,126 m- 3,964 ft) is the highest point in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It gives its name to the Cruachan Dam, a pumped-storage hydroelectric power station located in a cavern inside the mountain, Cruachan! is the battle cry for Highland clans Campbell and MacIntyre. It is the high point of a ring of mountains, known as the Cruachan Horseshoe, that surrounds the power station reservoir. The horseshoe includes a further Munro (Stob Diamh), a Corbett (Beinn a' Bhuiridh), and several subsidiary summits.

 The painter 

Thomas Miles Richardson  was an English landscape-painter whose first notable picture was a ‘View of Newcastle from Gateshead Fell,’  purchased by the Newcastle corporation. In 1816 he began to illustrate with aquatints his brother's ‘Collection of Armorial Bearings … in the Chapel of St. Andrew, Newcastle-upon-Tyne’ which was published in 1818, and followed in 1820 by a larger work dealing with the church of St. Nicholas. In 1833 and 1834 he was engaged on a work on the ‘Castles of the English and Scottish Borders’ which he illustrated with mezzotints. These publications remained unfinished. Richardson became well known as a contributor to London exhibitions from 1818, when he sent his first picture to the Royal Academy, and was elected a member of the New Watercolour Society. His work was represented in public galleries at South Kensington, at Dublin, and at Liverpool.

SGOR GAOITH (CAIRNGORMS) BY DAVID BOMBERG

DAVID BOMBERG (1890-1957) 

Sgòr Gaoith (1,118 m (3,668 ft)

 United Kingdom (Scotland) 

In the Cairngorms, late summer , oil on canvas, Tate, London

The mountain 

Sgòr Gaoith (1,118 m (3,668 ft) is a mountain in the western massif of the Cairngorms, and is separated from the Braeriach massif by the broad valley of Glen Einich. The second-highest summit of the mountain is Sgoran Dubh Mòr (1,111 m), which lies 1.3 km away due NNE along the summit ridge. The eastern side of Sgòr Gaoith is girded by steep cliffs which plunge down to Loch Einich; the western side is composed of heather slopes and a number of shallow corries.

The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland, consisting of high plateaux at about 1000–1200 m above sea level, above which domed summits. Many of the summits have tors, free-standing rock outcrops that stand on top of the boulder-strewn landscape. The edges of the plateaux are in places steep cliffs of granite and they are excellent for skiing, rock climbing and ice climbing. The Cairngorms form an arctic-alpine mountain environment, with tundra-like characteristics and long-lasting snow patches.
The range lies in the Scottish council areas of Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highland, and within the counties of Aberdeenshire, Inverness-shire and Banffshire.

The painter 

David Garshen Bomberg  was an English painter, and one of the Whitechapel Boys. He was one of the most audacious of the exceptional generation of artists who studied at the Slade School of Art under Henry Tonks, and which included Mark Gertler, Stanley Spencer, C.R.W. Nevinson and Dora Carrington.[  Bomberg painted a series of complex geometric compositions combining the influences of cubism and futurism in the years immediately preceding World War I; typically using a limited number of striking colours, turning humans into simple, angular shapes, and sometimes overlaying the whole painting a strong grid-work colouring scheme. He was expelled from the Slade School of Art in 1913, with agreement between the senior teachers Tonks, Frederick Brown and Philip Wilson Steer, because of the audacity of his breach from the conventional approach of that time.

Whether because his faith in the machine age had been shattered by his experiences as a private soldier in the trenches or because of the pervasive retrogressive attitude towards modernism in Britain Bomberg moved to a more figurative style in the 1920s and his work became increasingly dominated by portraits and landscapes drawn from nature. Gradually developing a more expressionist technique, he travelled widely through the Middle East and Europe.
From 1945 to 1953, he worked as a teacher at Borough Polytechnic (now London South Bank University) in London, where his pupils included Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff, Philip Holmes, Cliff Holden, Edna Mann, Dorothy Mead, Gustav Metzger, Dennis Creffield, Cecil Bailey and Miles Richmond. David Bomberg House, one of the student halls of residences at London South Bank University, is named in his honor.

BEN LOMOND/ BEINN LAOMAINN BY GEORGE FENNEL ROBSON

GEORGE FENNEL ROBSON  (1788 - 1833) 

 Ben Lomond / Beinn Laomainn (974 m - 3,196 ft
United Kingdom Scotland 

The mountain 

Ben Lomond  / Beinn Laomainn  (974 m- (3,196 ft) is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Memorial Park and the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, property of the National Trust for Scotland. Its accessibility from Glasgow and elsewhere in central Scotland, together with the relative ease of ascent from Rowardennan, makes it one of the most popular of all the Munros. On a clear day, it is visible from the higher grounds of Glasgow and across Strathclyde; this may have led to it being named 'Beacon Mountain', as with the equally far-seen Lomond Hills in Fife. Ben Lomond summit can also be seen from Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Britain, over 40 miles (64 km) away. The West Highland Way runs along the western base of the mountain, by the loch.
Ben Lomond's popularity in Scotland has resulted in several namesakes in the former British colonies of Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States.

The painter 
George Fennell Robson was an English watercolour painter. He received instruction in drawing from a Mr. Harle of Durham. In 1806 he went to London with £5 in his pocket.
Robson began to exhibit at the Royal Academy in 1807, in 1810 landscapes in the Bond Street gallery of the Associated Painters, where he was a member, and in 1813 with the Society of Painters in Oil and Watercolours. At the anniversary meeting on 30 November 1819 he was elected president of the last society, for a year. Robson was an honorary member of the Sketching Society, but weakness of sight prevented him from drawing at their evening meetings.
Robson published in 1808 a print of Durham, the profits of which enabled him to visit Scotland. In 1811 and 1812 he exhibited drawings of the Trossachs and Loch Katrine; and in 1814 published Scenery of the Grampians, with forty mountain landscapes, etched by Henry Morton after his drawings. From 1813 to 1820 he contributed, on the average, twenty drawings annually to the Oil and Watercolour Society's exhibition, mostly of the Perthshire highlands, but comprising also scenes from Durham, the Isle of Wight, and Wales.
When in 1821 the Society of Painters in Oil and Watercolours, now the Royal Watercolour Society of Painters, excluded oil paintings, Robson contributed 26 drawings to the exhibition of that year. Between 1821 and 1833 he exhibited 484 works there.
From 1829 to 1833 Robson worked with Robert Hills, the animal painter. His main talent was for the treatment of mountain scenery under broad effects of light and

THE CUILLIN PAINTED BY GEORGE FENNEL ROBSON

GEORGE FENNEL ROBSON  (1788 - 1833)

The Cuillin (992m - 3,255ft)

United Kingdom (Scotland- Isles of Skye) 

 In Cuchullin Mountains, Isles of Skye, Scotland,  watercolor, 1822,V&A Museum, London.

The mountains 

The Cuillin (992m - 3,255ft) is a range of rocky mountains located on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The main Cuillin ridge is also known as the Black Cuillin to distinguish it from the Red Cuillin ( known locally as Red Hills), which lie to the east of Glen Sligachan.

The peaks of the Black Cuillin are mainly composed of gabbro, a very rough igneous rock which provides a superb grip for mountaineers; and basalt, which can be very slippery when wet.  The rocks forming the ridge of the Black Cuillin (and outliers such Bla Bheinn) are dark in colour, particularly in the shade, but when in sunlight the Black Cuillin can appear grey to brown in colour (as shown in the paintings above).   The main ridge forms a narrow crest, with steep cliffs and scree slopes.[5] The ridge is about 14 km long (measured from Gars-behinn in the south to Sgщrr nan Gillean in the northeast), and curves in an irregular semi-circle around Loch Coruisk, which lies at the heart of the range. The highest point of the Cuillin, and of the Isle of Skye, is Sgщrr Alasdair in the Black Cuillin.

The Red Cuillin are mainly composed of granite, which is paler than the gabbro (with a reddish tinge from some angles in some lights) and has weathered into more rounded hills with vegetation cover to summit level and long scree slopes on their flanks. These hills are lower and, being less rocky, have fewer scrambles or climbs.  The highest point of the red hills is Glamaig (775 m), one of only two Corbetts on Skye.

About those mountains, one can read  in Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report no 374: "The mountains rise up dramatically from the sea creating formidable, enclosed sea lochs, with the absence of foothills enhancing their vast scale. Many iconic views of Scotland are centred here, whether Sgurr nan Gillean soaring above Sligachan, Loch Scavaig and the Cuillin ridge from Elgol, or Bla Bheinn above Torrin. "

The painter 

George Fennell Robson was an English watercolour painter. He received instruction in drawing from a Mr. Harle of Durham. In 1806 he went to London with £5 in his pocket.[
Robson began to exhibit at the Royal Academy in 1807, in 1810 landscapes in the Bond Street gallery of the Associated Painters, where he was a member, and in 1813 with the Society of Painters in Oil and Watercolours. At the anniversary meeting on 30 November 1819 he was elected president of the last society, for a year. Robson was an honorary member of the Sketching Society, but weakness of sight prevented him from drawing at their evening meetings.
Robson published in 1808 a print of Durham, the profits of which enabled him to visit Scotland. In 1811 and 1812 he exhibited drawings of the Trossachs and Loch Katrine; and in 1814 published Scenery of the Grampians, with forty mountain landscapes, etched by Henry Morton after his drawings. From 1813 to 1820 he contributed, on the average, twenty drawings annually to the Oil and Watercolour Society's exhibition, mostly of the Perthshire highlands, but comprising also scenes from Durham, the Isle of Wight, and Wales.
When in 1821 the Society of Painters in Oil and Watercolours, now the Royal Watercolour Society of Painters, excluded oil paintings, Robson contributed 26 drawings to the exhibition of that year. Between 1821 and 1833 he exhibited 484 works there.
From 1829 to 1833 Robson worked with Robert Hills, the animal painter. His main talent was for the treatment of mountain scenery under broad effects of light and

MOEL SIABOD PAINTED BY SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS

SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS (1918-2006)

Moel Siabod (872m - 2,861ft) 

United Kingdom (Wales)

In Snow on Siabod, 1968, oil on canvas, National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff

The mountain 

Moel Siabod  (872m - 2,861ft) is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales, which sits isolated above the villages of Betws-y-Coed and Capel Curig. It is the highest peak in the Moelwynion mountain range. The UK National Mountain Centre, Plas-y-Brenin, is located at the foot of Moel Siabod. From the top of the mountain, it is reputedly possible to see 13 of the 14 highest peaks in Wales on a clear day without turning one's head.

The name Moel Siabod is frequently translated as  "shapely hill" , although William Williams in Observations on the Snowdon Mountains (1802) proposed that the name comes from siadod, meaning  "bare hill, whose head or crown is covered in new-fallen snow".

The mountain is easily accessible from the north via Capel Curig and nearby Pont Cyfyng (by a separate but similar path) and from the south via Dolwyddelan.

The Painter 
Sir John "Kyffin" Williams, KBE, RA was a Welsh landscape painter who lived at Pwllfanogl, Llanfairpwll, on the Island of Anglesey. Williams is widely regarded as the defining artist of Wales during the 20th century.
His works typically drew inspiration from the Welsh landscape and farmlands. His works may be seen in a permanent exhibition in the Oriel Kyffin Williams Gallery which opened in 2008 at Oriel Ynys Môn in Llangefni, Anglesey, as well as at many other galleries elsewhere in Britain. He was president of the Royal Cambrian Academy and was appointed a member of the Royal Academy in 1974.
In 1995 Williams received the Glyndŵr Award for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales during the Machynlleth Festival. He was awarded the OBE for his services to the arts in 1982 and a KBE in 1999.
The Kyffin Williams Drawing Prize was established in 2009. The winning works from the 2018 prize are due to be exhibited at the Oriel Kyffin Williams Gallery.
In February 2011 it was announced that Williams' paintings of Patagonia would be shown for the first time.  His last passport, on show in the Oriel Ynys Môn gallery at Llangefni, 2004–2014, has the name Sir John Williams. Kyffin was his grandmother's maiden name.
Williams' works are held in many public collections, including the Government Art Collection, the Arts Council Collection and the National Museum of Wales.

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2018 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau