catalog text
PASTORAL LANDSCAPE OF A RESTING BULL BY JOHN CARLETON WIGGINS (AMERICAN, 1848-1932)
In oil on canvas, signed lower left "Carleton Wiggins" and dated illegibly "188?"
Item # 906BLH30K
A fine tonalist painting depicting a resting bull in a pastoral landscape overlooking a quiet horizon beneath a large tree. The lighting of the subject is interesting in how the bull is brilliant and the surrounding light fades away into the dark greens of the grasses. A pastel horizon hints at the onset of evening as the cow gazes lazily into the distance.
Typical of the distinctive style in John Carleton Wiggins' pastoral works, the painting is quiet and undistracted, capturing a space in nature untouched by busy or complex activity. His scenes are bucolic but also moody with a heavy atmosphere in the lighting and gentle impressionism of the brush strokes.
The present example is signed in the lower left corner in his standard italic scripting "Carleton Wiggins" and dated somewhat illegibly, perhaps 1881 or 1883.
Measurements: 11 13/16" H x 18 1/8" W [canvas]; 17 3/8" H x 23 5/8" W x 1 1/4" D [frame]
Condition Report:
Professionally conserved and cleaned, relined on linen for stability. Craquelure throughout with some grime trapped in the recesses. Frame is modern. Edges of canvas with prior frame impressions (typically hidden by matting). Under UV showing 2 spots of inpainting to body of the bull, a few spots along the horizon of the grasses, spot touch ups in the tree.