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拍品专文
Hugh 'Grecian' Williams established his reputation and the name 'Grecian' through his extended travels in Greece and Italy, from which he returned in 1818. In 1822 he exhibited the watercolours from his journey in Edinburgh, and the writer and critic William Hazlitt (1778-1830) commented that 'Here another Greece grows on the walls...ancient temples rise...As works of art, these watercolour drawings deserve very high praise...We have at once an impressive and satisfactory idea of the country of which we have heard so much' (W.C. Hazlitt (ed.), W. Hazlitt: Essays on the Fine Arts, London, 1873, pp. 141-4).
Similar to a watercolour by Williams of the same view in the Benaki Museum, Athens (no. 25194), dated 1819, the present lot depicts the city of Thebes, at one time a major rival to Athens, in a particularly Claudian manner.
On visiting Thebes in 1839 the Reverend S.S. Wilson, overwhelmed by the history of the area, exclaimed 'What a sight! What vivid recollections! There, Homer's chivalric bands had fought, and sinned and bled. There, many a bard had sung, many a hero had multiplied widows and orphans...There, inspired apostles had taught 'the glorious gospel'' (F.-M. Tsigakou, The Rediscovery of Greece, London, 1981, p.71).
Similar to a watercolour by Williams of the same view in the Benaki Museum, Athens (no. 25194), dated 1819, the present lot depicts the city of Thebes, at one time a major rival to Athens, in a particularly Claudian manner.
On visiting Thebes in 1839 the Reverend S.S. Wilson, overwhelmed by the history of the area, exclaimed 'What a sight! What vivid recollections! There, Homer's chivalric bands had fought, and sinned and bled. There, many a bard had sung, many a hero had multiplied widows and orphans...There, inspired apostles had taught 'the glorious gospel'' (F.-M. Tsigakou, The Rediscovery of Greece, London, 1981, p.71).