Artists Collection

One of four paintings of the view of the Thames from Richmond Hill executed between 2012 and 2015. Exhibited at London View – Faine Furr Neiland at Richmond Atelier 2016

"When I lived in Richmond I admired the view from Richmond Hill and painted it four times in a large scale. The view changes all the time. JMW Turner liked it too. The 18th c Portrait Painter and founder of the Royal Academy Joshua Reynolds also lived with this view and had the house on the hill 'Wick House' that overlooks it. What I particularly like about the view is its timeless quality and how it could be many places in the world dependent on the light and the weather conditions. Sometimes it takes on a mythical quality as with this painting I think. Through the depiction of the landscape I can reflect/ express my own feelings and emotions. I have always loved the landscape paintings by Claude Lorrain and how they are able to transport me to another world when I see them. I often go to the National Gallery to gaze at them for inspiration.

‘When I saw the mist on the hill It had a mystical quality for me and I knew I had to paint it. It immediately reminded me of the era of James McNeill Whistler and his views of the Thames in twilight and of the poetic words of his contemporary Oscar Wilde who noted of the Impressionists paintings: ‘The lovely silver mists that brood over our river and turn to faint forms of fading grace curved bridge and swaying barge’ – Christian Furr