The Watercolour Gallery May - December 2015
The Watercolour Gallery Lakeland Arts has a superb collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century English watercolours, featuring masters of the medium such as JMW Turner, John Sell Cotman, John Robert Cozens, John Constable and John Ruskin. While a number of these works comprise dramatic drawings of Alpine landscapes, including Turner’s towering The Passage of Mount St Gothard, the majority depict scenes closer to home. In the late eighteenth century the Lake District became very popular with artists seeking the ‘picturesque’ – a term formulated by the amateur artist the Revered William Gilpin who defined it as ‘that kind of beauty which is agreeable in a picture’. Gilpin’s theories proved to be immensely popular and the publication of Thomas West’s Guide to the Lakes in 1778 further cemented the Lake District’s reputation as an essential destination for any self-respecting landscape artist undertaking the ‘picturesque tour’.
In his book West identified viewpoints or ‘Stations’ from which visitors could enjoy the best views and appreciate the aesthetic qualities of the landscape. Watercolour is a medium well suited for artists travelling to areas off the beaten track since it is portable and quick drying. Watercolour is also a very fragile medium and its delicate pigments fade when exposed to light. For this reason we only show each of our watercolours for a limited period of time, with reduced lighting, and ensure that the collection is rotated regularly.
1
JOHN RUSKIN
(1819-1900)
View from my window at Mornex, where I stayed a year
c1862-3
Watercolour and bodycolour Ruskin spent the winter of 1862-3 in the village of Mornex in the Haute Savoie, on the road to Chamonix. He rented a ‘cottage ornée’ which had a garden leading to the edge of a ravine, and a view of ‘the lovely plain of La Roche, extending to the foot of the Brezon, above which I have the Mont du Respoir; and then the Aiguille de Varens; then Mont Blanc and the Grande Jorasses and Aiguille Verte...’ He looked forward to sketching the mountain scenery, but found the winter weather at Mornex disappointing, with no storms or fine sky effects. Furthermore, he was disturbed by ‘the contrast of spring and its blossoming with the torpor and misery of the people’ whom he considered blind to the wonder of art and nature.
The Cunliffe Bequest, 1963
2 JOHN GLOVER
(1767-1849)
Horsemen with Cattle, Ullswater Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour on paper
The son of a Leicestershire farmer, John Glover was largely self-taught, although he had a few lessons from William Payne and John ‘Warwick’ Smith. He established himself as a drawing master in Staffordshire in 1794, and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1795. He later moved to London and became one of the founders of the Old Society of Painters in Watercolours in 1804. Glover aspired to be the ‘English Claude’, and his compositions are often Picturesque in character. He embarked on regular sketching trips in Britain, and money of his works depict landscapes in Wales, Dovedale and the Lake District. In 1818 he bought a house on Ullswater and liver there for two years before selling it in order to buy a painting by Claude. In 1831 he emigrated to Tasmania with his family and remained there until his death. Bequeathed by Oliver Thompson, 2006
3 JOHN RUSKIN (1819-1900)
Study of rocks and ferns in a wood at Crossmount, Perthshire
1847
Pencil, ink, watercolour and bodycolour
This highly coloured study focuses on botanical detail. The foreground is transformed into a concentrated and enclosed composition while the background and edges of the picture are covered with washes of watercolour. Ink is used over rapid pencil under-drawing to define the contours of the rocks and undergrowth, before watercolour washes and touches of bodycolour (an opaque white pigment) are added. Ruskin highlights details by leaving areas in ‘reserve’ (allowing the whiteness of the paper to show through). This can be seen in the ferns at the centre of the picture. The Cunliffe Bequest, 1973
4 REV. JOSEPH WILKINSON
(1764-1831)
The Old Palace at Patterdale, Ullswater
c1795
Pencil and watercolour
The Rev. Wilkinson was a distinguished amateur artist, and is best remembered today for his Select Views in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire of 1810, with its text by William Wordsworth. Born in Carlisle, he lived in Ormathwaite in the Lake District until 1804, producing numerous views of a landscape he knew well. Patterdale Hall, known as the Old Palace, lies to the south of Ullswater. This view is a studio work which retains its original mount. The Friends of Abbot Hall, purchased from Cornish Torbock
5 THOMAS SUNDERLAND
(1744-1823)
The High Sheriff of Lancashire Crossing Morecambe Sands Pencil, watercolour, pen and ink on paper
Sunderland was a prolific amateur artist who lived much of his life in Ulverston. He was Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, as well as Lieutenant of the Ulverston Volunteer Corps, and it was presumably on official duties that he witnessed this scene. A body of soldiers leads the Sheriff’s coach across the receding waters of Morecambe Sands whilst a group of fisherman watch the comic spectacle. Sunderland’s fluent pen work, touched with a few washes of watercolour, has changed to a rusty colour which has bled into the paper, creating a picturesque effect. Bequest of the late Cornish Torbock via The Art Fund, 1994
6 JOHN RUSKIN (1819-1900)
Bellinzona Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour on blue-grey paper
Ruskin was greatly influenced by Turner’s sketches of the area around Bellinzona. In this watercolour he attempts to emulate the breadth of Turner’s sketches by using outline to highlight detail within an expansive wash. The picture offers a powerful combination of detail and atmosphere, but Ruskin was disappointed with finished product, judging his work harshly in comparison with that of Turner. The Cunliffe Bequest, 1973
8 WILLIAM MARLOW (1740-1813)
A Romantic Continental Landscape Watercolour Marlow travelled extensively through France and Italy and was inuenced by the light and landscape of the Mediterranean. This view is probably invented and reects the fashionable taste for wild and romantic mountain scenery. Gift of Dr C B Warren, 1996
9 THOMAS ROWLANDSON
The Kendal Flying Machine (Carrier’s Wagon)
(1756-1827)
1820
Watercolour
In the nineteenth century the work of Thomas Rowlandson was not considered to be part of the true watercolour tradition. However, his caricatures were immensely popular. He was not a critic or political satirist but captured the essence of human nature in everyday life. The energetic line creates a rhythm and animation which is enhanced by the flush of colour. The watercolour shows travellers climbing aboard the ‘Kendal Flying Machine’, the coach which established a twice-weekly link between Kendal and London. Purchased in 1977 with the aid of a grant from the MGC / V&A Purchase Grant Fund
10 JOHN CONSTABLE (1776-1837)
The Lower Cascade, Rydal
1806
Pencil
Constable’s only visit to the Lake District was in the autumn of 1806. His uncle was the proprietor of Storrs Hall on the eastern shore of Windermere, and he spent the ďŹ rst few weeks there, before going on to stay with the amateur artist John Harden and his family at Brathay Hall in Ambleside. He later set out to explore the lakes and mountains with his companion George Gardner (son of Kendal portrait painter Daniel Gardner). The cascade at Rydal Hall was a noted beauty spot which the Hardens were pleased to point out to Constable. He has used strong and rapid diagonal strokes to articulate form, light and shade.
Purchased in 1977 with the aid of grants from the Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund and The Art Fund
11 JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER (1775-1851)
The Passage of Mount St Gothard from the centre of Teufels Broch (Devil’s Bridge)
1804
Watercolour, with scraping out, on paper This large work demonstrates not just Turner’s astonishing watercolour technique, but also his desire to express feelings of danger, fear and astonishment that were central to the notion of the Sublime, a philosophical concept that was extremely influential for poets, writers and artists in the second half of the eighteenth century. The war that raged between Britain and France from 1792 was brought to a temporary halt with the signing of the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. Turner, like many other artists, took this opportunity to travel to Europe, and encountered the awe-inspiring grandeur of the Alps for the first time. In 1804, this watercolour was bought by Walter Fawkes, Turner’s most important patron, who later acquired another watercolour by Turner in the Abbot Hall collection, Windermere. Dr C.M. Warren Bequest
12 JOHN RUSKIN (1819-1900)
Rochers de Lanfon, Lac d’Annecy
c1860
Watercolour and bodycolour
This study was executed during the early 1860s and may date from Ruskin’s expedition from Mornex to the Annecy are from April to May 1863. The five peaks of Les Dents de Lanfon rise on the east side of Lac d’Annecy, behind Menthon and Talloires.
The Cunliffe Bequest, 1973
13 SAMUEL PROUT (1783-1852)
Huy, Belgium Watercolour
Born in Plymouth, Prout spent his early years drawing and sketching rustic scenes in his native Devon and Cornwall. He moved to London in 1803, further developing his watercolour skills until his visit to the continent in 1818, where he was drawn to the picturesque elements of the medieval architecture he discovered in the cities there. The resultant watercolours received praise from John Ruskin, and Prout was made ‘Painter in Water-Colours in Ordinary’ to King George IV in 1829, and later to Queen Victoria. Gift of Dr Harrison, 1969
14 EDWARD LEAR (1812-1888)
Windermere from Wansfell
1850
Watercolour, bodycolour, pen and ink on paper
Better known today for his poetry and nonsense rhymes, Edward Lear was also an accomplished draughtsman and illustrator. Most of Lear’s Lake District watercolours date from 1836 or 1837, making this a rare late example. In his late work, Lear often sketched in pencil in the countryside before adding ink and colour washes in the studio. This scene is a superb example of his mature style, displaying clarity of line and delicate colouring. Purchased with the assistance of grants from the MGC/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and the Friends of Abbot Hall
15 JOHN SELL COTMAN (1782-1842)
The Market Place, Norwich, taken from Mr Cooper’s
1807
Pencil & watercolour on laid paper
Cotman was a native of Norwich and a leading watercolourist and etcher of the Norwich School. This bustling scene records what must have been an everyday experience for Cotman when he was living in the city. His superb draughtsmanship is evident despite the considerable fading of colour, particularly the blue of the sky. Many of his architectural drawings contain a strong sense of line. The church of St Peter Mancroft remains standing, and there is still a covered market in Norwich today. However, many of the medieval buildings on the right hand side of Cotman’s picture were demolished to make way for the new City Hall. The Morse Bequest, 1972
16 AUGUSTUS EGG (1816-1863)
Harriet Martineau at Tynemouth
1844
Watercolour
Augustus Egg was a successful Victorian genre painter who was a member of The Clique, a group of artists whose number included Richard Dadd and William Powell Frith. Harriet Martineau was a revered author and social reformer who wrote more than 50 books on subjects such as Society in America and Household Education, as well as novels and guides, including a volume on the Lake District, where she lived from 1845. As well as being deaf from about the age of 20, Martineau suffered from ill health and lived in Tynemouth from 1840 to 1845, where she would recline at her window, looking out to the estuary, until a cure by mesmerism led to her recovery. Gift of Miss Tyson, 1971
17 JOHN CONSTABLE
(1776-1837)
Study for ‘Boys Fishing’
c1813
Oil on canvas
This study was made for the painting Boys Fishing, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1813. The subject matter was taken from close to Flatford Mill, in Suffolk, which belonged to Constable’s father. The lock is visible in the foreground, and on the far bank of the river is Bridge Cottage. The two boys fishing form the focal point of the composition, painted with bright flashes of colour. The freedom and freshness of the paintwork is typical of Constable’s oil sketches and captures the atmospheric effects of changing light in the sky.
On loan from a private collection
18 KATE GREENAWAY (1846-1901)
Presentation Drawing: New Year’s Day
1897
Pencil & watercolour
Kate Greenaway was a children’s author and illustrator whose influences included the Pre-Raphaelites, John Ruskin, William Morris and the Aesthetic Movement. Her graceful, linear drawings of children may sometimes appear sentimental to modern viewers, but her books, starting with Under the Window in 1879, found a widespread audience in Britain in the late nineteenth century. She was a close friend of John Ruskin, to whom this drawing is dedicated. Gift of Mr G C Barton, 1977