This atmospheric river scene, titled Bidemore Bridge, by David Croal Thomson (1855–1930), depicts a long stone bridge spanning calm water, its repeating arches guiding the eye toward a town rising along the riverbank. The distant buildings and towers are softly rendered beneath a subdued, clouded sky.  Thomson was an Edinburgh-born art dealer, critic, and editor who played a significant role in the British art world. After studying drawing and painting in Edinburgh and an apprenticeship as a printseller and artist’s colourman, he continued his artistic studies in Paris. Later based primarily in London, he managed several prominent galleries in the capital and edited the Art Journal from 1892 to 1902. Through his galleries, publications, and extensive professional network, Thomson considerably shaped artistic tastes and discourses in Britain during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

David Croal Thomson, 1855-1930