Buildings In Naples (2005)

Oil on board, 42x51cm

Private collection

At the exhibition Thomas Jones An Artist Rediscovered, (National Gallery, London 2003-04) I realised that some of his remarkable small scale oil paintings from nature were clearly executed from the same vantage points, from windows of different lodgings that he took in Naples in 1782. Rather like photographic 'joiners', these paintings could be joined together to give a wider view, a slight pretext for a painting perhaps, but I wasn't aware that anyone else had actually done so. Presenting the work as a trompe l'oeil gave me the excuse to include the postcard of A Wall in Naples, in some respects the most original painting of the18th century, a stereo photograph a Naples, and a day ticket to the rather excellent Neapolitan transport system. The title of this picture is lifted directly from the painting at the top left hand corner, so named in the catalogue to the exhibition

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©copyright 2005 Nicholas Middleton