Matthew Ridley Corbet, ARA, 
British 1850-1902- 

Boats moored upon a shore at sunset; 

oil on panel, signed 'M R Corbet' (lower right), with an oil study of trees verso, 15.9 x 38.9 cm. 

Provenance: 
Private Collection. 

Note: 
Corbet studied under Alexander Davis Cooper (1820-1895) and Frederic Leighton (1830-1896). It was likely Leighton who introduced Corbet to Giovanni Costa (1826-1903). Costa, who had similarly enlightened Leighton’s attitude towards landscape painting, was father of the school of painters known as the Etruscans, which was founded in 1878. The group, which included William Blake Richmond (1842-1921) and George Howard (1843-1911), sought inspiration from the beauty of the Tuscan landscape. According to Christopher Newall, 'the essential principle of Etruscan painting is concerned with the careful distillation of sentiment, that quality which moves a painter to the emotional rendition of a subject or association in a painting with which a viewer may identify or sympathise' (Christopher Newell, 'The Etruscans: Painters of the Italian Landscape 1850-1900', exh. cat., 1989, p.16). 

The present work is executed in the landscape format which the artist often adopted, and which was favoured by the Etruscan School. The scene is a typically far-reaching landscape stretching into the horizon, with a sense of distance emphasised by the hazy blues of the mountains beyond. The golden light of the setting sun exudes a sense of romance, alongside a feeling of stillness, with the boats pulled up onto the shore, ready for the coming night. The artist travelled in Italy and the present work bears certain similarities to his large canvas 'Afterglow in Italy – Evening' (Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston no.PRSMG:P86), which was presumably painted around the same time.