Ludlow Castle, Shropshire

William Hodges's Ludlow Castle, Shropshire, painted in 1778, depicts one of England's most impressive castle ruins. Hodges was a pioneering landscape painter who accompanied Captain Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific (1772-1775), producing the first European artistic records of Tahiti, Easter Island, and other Pacific locations. His English landscapes, painted between his exotic travels, show the same atmospheric sensitivity he brought to his views of distant lands.

The oil on canvas shows Hodges's atmospheric approach to the English landscape, with the ruined castle bathed in warm, evocative light. The broad, painterly handling and the sensitive treatment of sky and atmosphere reflect the influence of his time with Richard Wilson.