William West (1801-1861) was an English oil painter and watercolourist who was a member of the Bristol School of artists. He was also the builder of the Clifton Observatory at Clifton Down, Bristol.

West arrived in Bristol around 1823. He started exhibiting there in 1823, and from 1824 as well as participating in the sketching activities of the Bristol School he exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British Institution. However, after 1826 he did not exhibit at those two institutions again until 1845. From 1847 he concentrated on Norwegian subjects.

The Simplon Pass is a high mountain pass between the Pennine Alps and the Lepontine Alps in Switzerland. It connects Brig in the canton of Valais with Domodossola in Piedmont. The pass itself and the villages on each side of it, such as Gondo, are in Switzerland. This painting is a landscape scene of the Simplon Pass showing figures along a path, two on horseback and alpine peaks in the background and bridge across the gorge.