Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 125, Edwin and Susan Davies Gallery

Bettws-y-Coed

Oil Painting
ca. 1860s (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Landscape painting in oil became steadily more popular throughout the 19th century. John Constable and J.M.W. Turner take credit for establishing landscape as a suitable theme for painting. Until then history paintings had been considered more important, but increasingly naturalistic oil paintings of picturesque views of the British landscape appealed to a wider section of the art-buying public. Many people who could not afford such paintings bought reproductions of them.

Benjamin Williams Leader (1831-1923) was an English landscape painter whose father knew and admired John Constable. He trained at the Government Schools of Design in Worcester and the Royal Academy Schools and exhibited work at the Royal Academy betwenn 1857 and 1922 as well as at the British Institution and the Birmingham Society of Artists.

Leader's landscapes were based chiefly on views of the Midlands, around Worcester, and in Scotland, although he was particularly fond of visiting and painting Bettws-y-Coed, North Wales, which inspired some of his best work.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleBettws-y-Coed (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Oil on millboard
Brief description
Oil on millboard, 'Bettws-y-Coed' by B.W.Leader.
Physical description
Hilly, rocky landscape showing two figures travelling with baskets and horses.
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 6.375in
  • Estimate width: 9.125in
  • Frame height: 38cm
  • Frame width: 45cm
Dimensions taken from Summary catalogue of British Paintings, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973
Style
Marks and inscriptions
'B W LEADER' (Signed by the artist)
Gallery label
Rural scenes like this appealed widely to the Victorian public. Leader specialised in landscapes and was particularly fond of Bettws-y-Coed, North Wales. Many people who could not afford such paintings bought reproductions of them.(07/08/2006)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Henry Spencer Ashbee
Object history
Bequeathed by Henry Spencer Ashbee, 1900
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
Landscape painting in oil became steadily more popular throughout the 19th century. John Constable and J.M.W. Turner take credit for establishing landscape as a suitable theme for painting. Until then history paintings had been considered more important, but increasingly naturalistic oil paintings of picturesque views of the British landscape appealed to a wider section of the art-buying public. Many people who could not afford such paintings bought reproductions of them.

Benjamin Williams Leader (1831-1923) was an English landscape painter whose father knew and admired John Constable. He trained at the Government Schools of Design in Worcester and the Royal Academy Schools and exhibited work at the Royal Academy betwenn 1857 and 1922 as well as at the British Institution and the Birmingham Society of Artists.

Leader's landscapes were based chiefly on views of the Midlands, around Worcester, and in Scotland, although he was particularly fond of visiting and painting Bettws-y-Coed, North Wales, which inspired some of his best work.
Associated object
Collection
Accession number
1830-1900

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Record createdAugust 7, 2006
Record URL
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