William Oliver

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William Oliver
(English, 1804-1853)

The Mont Cenis Pass (Savoy) (Detail)

Graphite on white paper, 8.5 x 12 in (21.6 x 30.5 cms); signed and dated lower right "W.O. 1847"; inscribed "near Susa/top (?) of Mont Cenis"; with color annotations

Provenance:
Christie's London, September 14, 2000; Phillips Oxfordshire, November 9, 2000; A deceased estate, Copenhagen; certainly related to a series of drawings of similar dimensions and subject matter in the Tate Museum, London, purchased in 1996 as part of the Oppé collection.

Museums and Collections:
The Tate Gallery, London; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the provincial museums of Sheffield, Sunderland and other British cities.

William Oliver is known principally as a watercolorist. He was a member of the New Water Colours Society. He exhibited throughout London from 1829 until his death in 1853, notably at the Royal Academy. As is witnessed by the two large drawings in our exhibition, he also traveled through France and Italy.

Mont Cenis (in Italian Monte Censio or Moncensio) is marked by a mountain pass through the Alps in Savoy, connecting southeastern France to Italy near the city of Turin. A twenty-four-mile road through the pass was built by Napoleon as an invasion route between 1803 and 1810.