Joseph Farington was born in Leigh, Lancashire, son of the vicar of Leigh and rector of Warrington. He was educated in Manchester and studied under Richard Wilson in London from 1763. He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1769 and became an Academician in 1785. His strength was in pen, ink and wash drawings of topographical views. He made extensive sketching tours of the UK and settled in the North Country from 1776. Works made there led to the publication ‘Views of the Lakes of Cumberland and Westmorland’ (1785). In 1780 he suffered a breakdown after his wife died. In the next year he moved to London. He died on a visit to his brother in Lancashire, when he fell down steps at Didsbury Church. His personal diaries were published in 1934.

Places

England, River Thames, London, Westminster Hall, Westminster Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Westminster

Subjects

rowing boat, topography, townscape/cityscape, river bank, river, bridge (urban), government building, house, abbey, church, hall, sailboat

Materials & Techniques

aquatint, coloured aquatint

Artist

Joseph Constantine Stadler (1755 - 1828)
Joseph Farington (1747 - 1821)

Title

View of Westminster Bridge including Westminster Hall and the Abbey

Date

1 October 1790

Medium

Coloured aquatint

Acquisition

Purchased from the Trustees of the XI Marquis of Lothian, February 1946

Provenance

Collection of Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian (1882-1940); from whose trustees, purchased by the Ministry of Works in February 1946

GAC number

0/69