Italianate River Landscape 1750 - 1760

William Taverner made this Italianate River Landscape with pen and brown ink with watercolor on paper sometime in the first half of the 18th century. In the 1700s, it was common for English artists, especially those without the means to travel, to make imaginary landscapes. This is why the title includes the term 'Italianate'- it signifies not a real place, but an idealized fantasy of Continental Europe. Painters like Taverner often took inspiration from the old masters of landscape painting such as Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, who lived in the 1600s. By emulating these artists, Taverner signals a knowledge of art history and an appreciation for classical beauty. The landscapes produced by Taverner and his contemporaries reflected the cultural values of politeness, learning, and good taste. To understand this drawing better, we might consider the market for landscape prints at the time, and the institutions where an artist like Taverner might have learned his trade.