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Lot Essay
This sketch is the basis for the large group at Blenheim, one of Hudson's largest and most ambitious works. The sheer scale of the Blenheim picture may account for Hudson adopting the practice of painting a preparatory sketch. Hudson's only other known sketch is for the Gopsall Handel which is rather less finished, suggesting that it may have been for the artist's own use in working out the composition, whereas the Marlborough sketch may have been intended for the Duke's approval.
Although this sketch has previously been attributed to Devis, the various changes made in the finished work and the presence of such a sketch in Hudson's sale, the only one of its sort, leaves no doubt as to its authorship. In the finished work, one column of the colonnade is removed thereby tightening the composition and emphasising the division of the group into three, and the background, vague and imprecise in the sketch, is replaced by a recognisable view of Blenheim.
Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough (grandson of the John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough) was the son of Churchill's daughter Anne and Charles, 3rd Earl of Sunderland. He became the 3rd Duke of Marlborough on the death of his aunt, Henrietta, Countess of Godolphin and Duchess of Marlborough. The group shows the Duke and his family: on the left dressed as cricketers, George (b.1739) and Charles (b.1740); in the middle the Duke, his wife Elizabeth Trevor (d. 1761) seated, and Elizabeth (b. 1737); and on the right, Robert the youngest (b. 1747) and Diana the eldest (b. 1734). The finished group is datable to 1753-55 and it has been suggested that given the length of time it would have taken to complete a work of this size, the sketch may date to a year or two earlier.
Although this sketch has previously been attributed to Devis, the various changes made in the finished work and the presence of such a sketch in Hudson's sale, the only one of its sort, leaves no doubt as to its authorship. In the finished work, one column of the colonnade is removed thereby tightening the composition and emphasising the division of the group into three, and the background, vague and imprecise in the sketch, is replaced by a recognisable view of Blenheim.
Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough (grandson of the John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough) was the son of Churchill's daughter Anne and Charles, 3rd Earl of Sunderland. He became the 3rd Duke of Marlborough on the death of his aunt, Henrietta, Countess of Godolphin and Duchess of Marlborough. The group shows the Duke and his family: on the left dressed as cricketers, George (b.1739) and Charles (b.1740); in the middle the Duke, his wife Elizabeth Trevor (d. 1761) seated, and Elizabeth (b. 1737); and on the right, Robert the youngest (b. 1747) and Diana the eldest (b. 1734). The finished group is datable to 1753-55 and it has been suggested that given the length of time it would have taken to complete a work of this size, the sketch may date to a year or two earlier.