Arthur Holdsworth Conversing with Thomas Taylor and Captain Stancombe by the River Dart

Arthur Devis

National Gallery of Art

This painting shows three men and one dog in an outdoor setting. To the left of center is a seated man looking out at us, wearing a blue coat and pants with gold trim, a red vest, white stockings, and black shoes, his curled gray hair under a black tricorn hat. Leaning against a tree behind the seated man is another man who wears a gray coat and vest with tan pants and tall, knee-length black boots. He holds a long, thin stick in one hand and a black tricorn hat in the other. This man has gray-brown hair that is also curled. He looks to the right, where the third man stands. The man on the right wears a blue-and-gray coat with gold trim, a gray vest, white stockings, and black shoes, with curled gray hair. He holds a black tricorn hat in one hand and uses the other hand to point towards the seated man. All three men have pale skin. A brown-and-white dog stands next to the seated man, its head resting on the man's thigh. The background consists of a green landscape with tall trees, distant gray buildings, and ships on the blue water in the distance. The sky above is light blue with a few wispy white clouds.