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Period: 18th Century
Fine 1800
s Georgian Original Painting Portrait of Elegant Young Noble Lady
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of Miss Elizabeth Brooke
Irish School, circa 1800
circle of James Dowling Herbert (1762-1837) Irish
watercolour painting on paper, framed in antique gilt frame, behind glass...
Category
English School 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Mughal School, 18th century – Emperor Jahangir in his harem in flagrante delicto
Located in Middletown, NY
An illuminated page from a book likely in reference to palace life during Emperor Jahangir's reign over the Mughal Empire.
Circa 1750. Gouache and ink with gold heightening on cre...
Category
Rajput 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gold
Fine 1700
s Italian Old Master Ink
Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Providenza
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Providenza'
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
overall framed: 17 x 13 inche...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper
Studio di piede (study of foot) – Florentine School 18th century
Located in Middletown, NY
Red chalk on cream laid paper, 6 3/8 x 7 inches (160 x 176 mm), the full sheet. In very good condition with minor toning and some modern notations in pencil on the verso, as well as ...
Category
Italian School 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Crayon, Laid Paper
Continental School 18th Century Watercolour - Architectural Drawing
Located in Corsham, GB
A charming watercolor Baroque architectural study. Unsigned. Presented in a gilt frame and wash line mount. On Laid paper.
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Studies of arms in draped sleeves
Located in Middletown, NY
Charcoal and graphite on grayish laid paper, 10 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches (265 x 195 mm), the full sheet. Scattered light, minor and unobtrusive foxing, several non-archival cellophane tape...
Category
Italian School 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Graphite, Charcoal
18th Century French Rococo Old Master Ink Drawing Nativity Scene
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Birth
French Rococo School, mid 18th century
sepia ink on paper over board, framed behind glass.
framed: 13 x 11 inches
painting : 8 x 6 inches
Provenance: private collection, B...
Category
Rococo 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Ink
$1,752 Sale Price
20% Off
Turin Countryside - Original Ink and Watercolor by Jan Pieter Verdussen - 1744
Located in Roma, IT
China ink and Watercolour. With handwritten notes, indicating the place and date of the artwork in lower margin: "Fait proche de Turin, ce 13 Juin 1744". Numbered on the lower right ...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
18th C Italian Classical Grand Tour Ancient City Old Ruins
Figures
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: The Italian City
Artist/ School: English/ Italian School, late 18th century; a Grand Tour work.
Medium: pencil drawing.
Size: 6.75 x 9.75 inches
Provenance: from a priva...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pencil
$657 Sale Price
20% Off
Stately Pleasure Dome
, South-East Asian, Mughal, Concubines, Fine Gilding
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
An 18th century, Mughal painting of a tribal chief, shown richly dressed and reclining in a courtyard surrounded by numerous concubines. Exceptional attention to detail throughout, p...
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gold Leaf
$4,125 Sale Price
25% Off
Atrrib. Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) - c. 1798 Watercolour, The Start
Located in Corsham, GB
A humorous late Georgian cartoon, showing the chaotic start to a horse race as one of the horses goes out of control and runs into the spectators, sending them fleeing. The scene app...
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Ancient Persian Miniature: Men with Scimitar - Probably 18/19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Image dimensions: 15 X 10 cm.
This Persian Miniature scene of men with scimitar is a unique precious original painting on the front with handwriting...
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Tempera
Late 18th Century Watercolour, A Swiss Village, Circle of Claude-Louis Châtelet
Located in Cotignac, FR
A late 18th or early 19th century watercolour view of a group of figures in a village square. Though not apparently signed the work is very competent and of high quality. It is frame...
Category
French School 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
$550 Sale Price
20% Off
Mughal School, 18th century Emperor Jangahir on a pleasure boat with his harem a
Located in Middletown, NY
Emperor Jahangir depicted with his harem attendees aboard a pleasure cruise, the water filled with lotus blossoms; symbols of paradise itself.
Circa 1750. Gouache and ink with gold ...
Category
Rajput 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gold
George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761.
A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Engraving
“Hon. George King, 1788” Pastel Portrait, Young Boy with Cricket Ball and Dog
By John Russell
Located in Yardley, PA
“Hon. George King, 1788” by John Russell (1745-1806)
Regarded as Britain’s foremost pastellist, John Russell is well known for his portraits of the wealthy middle class. In particul...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paper, Pastel
Antique French Miniature Portrait of Lady Biographical details with painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Miniature Portrait
French School, late 18th/ early 19th century
framed: 5.5 x 5.5 inches
board: 2 x 2 inches
provenance: private collection, France
condition: very good and sound c...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
FINE 18th CENTURY OLD MASTER CHALK DRAWING - ROMANESQUE FIGURES INTERIOR SCENE
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: French School, 18th century
Title: Classical figures within an interior.
Medium: chalk on paper, mounted.
Size: drawing: 11.5 x 13.5 inches
Provenance:...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Chalk
$1,040 Sale Price
20% Off
Mughal School, 18th Century Emperor Jahangir with Empress Nur Jahan
Located in Middletown, NY
Emperor Jahangir and Empress Nur Jahan exchanging lotus blossoms; a symbol of beauty, purity, honesty, rebirth, self-regeneration, and enlightenment....
Category
Rajput 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gold
Fine 1700
s Italian Old Master Ink
Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Africa
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Africa'
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
overall framed: 17 x 13 inches
co...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper
Mughal School, 18th century – Emperor Jahangir dancing with his harem attendees
Located in Middletown, NY
A joyful scene of lighthearted merriment in the palace of Jangahir Mahal Agra
Circa 1750. Gouache and ink with gold heightening on light weight cream laid paper, 8 1/4 x 6 inches (2...
Category
Rajput 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gold
H. Cromwell - 1797 Watercolour, The Ruins of Wolvesey Castle, Winchester
Located in Corsham, GB
Two figures stand amidst the ruins of Wolvesey Castle, framed by a crumbling arch. The artist employs careful, fine brushwork in this late eighteenth-century watercolour. Inscribed w...
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Fine 18th Century French Old Master Ink Wash Drawing Cain
Abel Fighting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Cain et Abel'
Circle of Franois Devosge
(1732-1811) French
pencil drawing with watercolour wash on paper
size: 12.25 x 9 inches
private collection, France
The painting is in overall...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Washi Paper, Color Pencil
$980 Sale Price
20% Off
Attrib. Johann Tischbein (1751-1829)- 18th Century Pastel, Maria Luisa of Parma
Located in Corsham, GB
A romantic late 18th-century pastel portrait, attributed to the German portraitist Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein (1751-1829). Exquisitely presented in its original giltwood frame...
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pastel
Drawing from Hagbynäs Sweden, 1779
Located in Stockholm, SE
Jonas Carl Linnerhielm (1758–1829)
Hagbynäs
Dated and titled “1779 in Aug. Vid Hagbynäs”
Red chalk on paper
21.3 × 33.4 cm (8.4 × 13.1 in.)
with frame 40.5 x 51 cm (15 ⁷/⁸ x 20 ⅛ i...
Category
Romantic 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Chalk
Neoclassical composition of a sculptor kneeling before his statue of the Madonna
Located in Middletown, NY
An allegory of loyalty, with the subject's dog pictured seated, holding his master's chisel in his mouth; fidelity personified.
Italian School, 18th century
Ink wash in gray and bl...
Category
Italian School 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Laid Paper, Ink, Watercolor
Manner of Francois Boucher (1703-1770) - Pastel, A Moment of Romance
Located in Corsham, GB
A romantic late 18th century pastel rendered in the manner of Francois Boucher (1703-1770), portraying two lovers tenderly embracing in a moonlit forest. Beside them, their loyal dog...
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pastel
Study of a Sleeping Girl in a Cap
By Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Located in Middletown, NY
Graphite on greenish gray wove paper. 15 1/4 x 11 5/8 inches (390 x 295 mm). Initialed "G. B." in pencil on the lower right recto. In generally good condition with some minor scattered surface soiling. Condition is consistent with age.
____
This drawing is closely related to two known mid 18th century oils...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Handmade Paper, Graphite
18th Century Pastel Portrait of a Gentleman
Located in Cotignac, FR
Late 18th Century pastel portrait on paper of a bearded gentleman. Presented under glass in a fine period gilded carved wood frame.
A cha...
Category
Rococo 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Pastel
$835 Sale Price
20% Off
Fine 1700
s Italian Old Master Ink
Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical India
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'India'
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
overall framed: 17 x 13 inches
con...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper
Mercurio / Mercury
Located in Middletown, NY
A lovely, early drawing of the Roman god Mercury.
Pen and brown ink on cream laid paper, with a partial crown and shield watermark, 7 1/4 x 4 7/8 inches (184x 123 mm) (matrix). In go...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Handmade Paper, Laid Paper
French Neo classical school, Allegory of Time, original drawing
Located in Paris, FR
Neo classical school, France, end of the 18th Century
Allegory of Time,
Pen and black ink on paper, gray ink wash
30.5 x 19 cm
irregularly shaped
In g...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
India Ink
The Dethroning / Italian School, 18th Century
Located in Middletown, NY
Graphite and grayish ink wash on bluish wove paper, 7 x 10 1/2 inches (177 x 265 mm) (matrix). Scattered surface soiling, adhesive residue, dog-eared corners, and scattered edge tears along left margin, outside of image area. Paper is braced on the verso with two pages from a mid 19th century book with illustrations by C.Perrin. One image depicts a scene of a group of soldiers representing the Holy Roman Empire...
Category
Italian School 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Handmade Paper, Graphite
A pair of portraits in profile (2 works) – English School, 18th century
Located in Middletown, NY
Red crayon on cream laid paper, 3 3/4 x 4 inches (95 x 102 mm) ; 3 3/4 x 3 1/8 inches (95 x 80 mm). Each with scattered early repairs done with non-archival tape on the verso; the sm...
Category
English School 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Crayon, Laid Paper
Sibyl or bust-length woman, seen in profile to the left, wearing a turban
By Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Il Guercino)
Located in Paris, Île-de-France
Follower of Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Il Guercino (Cento 1591 – 1666 Bologna)
Sibyl or bust-length woman, seen in profile to the left, wearing a turban
Red chalk on paper,...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Chalk
George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761.
A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
From Renaissance Venice to Barocco Naples, a drawing by Francesco La Marra
Located in PARIS, FR
This vigorous drawing presents a brilliant synthesis between the Venetian tradition of Titian, of which it is a distant echo, and the Neapolitan Baroque of Solimena, which strongly i...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Felt Pen
George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Birds
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761.
A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Engraving
French School 18th century, Interior of a barn, drawing
Located in Paris, FR
French School 18th century,
Interior of a barn
Black chalk and black ink wash on paper
30.8 x 23.6 cm
Bears a mention " Le Prince" on the back of the sheet (see photograph)
In good ...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Chalk, Ink
Seaman in petticoat breeches and slops, smoking a pipe, carrying a carpetbag.
Located in Middletown, NY
English School, 18th century
Pen and black ink with gray wash on cream laid paper, 9 1/4 x 5 inches (238 x132 mm). 1/4 inch repaired loss, top center, to the left of the figure’s h...
Category
Realist 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor, Laid Paper, Pen
Study of a Putto with Attributes of Painting
Located in New York, NY
Circle of François Boucher (1703–1770)
Study of a Putto with Attributes of Painting
Chalk on paper
Not signed
An elegant Rococo drawing depicting a winged putto with a painter’s pal...
Category
Rococo 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Animal Skin, Paper, Chalk
After John Downman - 1794 Watercolour, Sarah Siddons (née. Kemble)
By John Downman
Located in Corsham, GB
This accomplished watercolours is a fine copy of John Downman's portrait of Sarah Siddons. Painted in the early 19th century, watercolours was a contempo...
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Three studies executed in the Pitti Palace in 1761 by Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Located in PARIS, FR
This brilliant study sheet, of which we present here a counterproof, is a souvenir of Fragonard's return journey from Italy. Between April and September 1761, he accompanied the abbot of Saint-Non on his way back to France. Three studies after the masters taken from the Pitti Palace’s gallery in Florence are gathered on this sheet. Although The Ecstasy of Saint Margaret...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Carbon Pencil
Preparations for the fireworks display held in Piazza Navona in 1729
Located in Paris, Île-de-France
VERY IMPORTANT DRAWING BY
JACQUES DUMONT called « LE ROMAIN"
(Paris 1701-1781)
Preparations for the fireworks display held in Piazza Navona in Rome on November 30,
1729, for the bi...
Category
French School 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Chalk, Ink, Pen
18th Century School, Courtyard of a palazzo, Architectural Capriccio, drawing
Located in Paris, FR
18th Century french School,
Courtyard of a ruined palazzo, An Architectural Capriccio,
Pen and black ink and black ink wash on paper
17 x 12 cm
In good condition
Framed : 32 x 26 c...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink
Hercules vanquishing a drakaina (half‑woman, half‑serpent)
Located in Paris, Île-de-France
Circle of Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (Venice 1727 – Madrid 1804)
Hercules vanquishing a drakaina (half‑woman, half‑serpent) – interpreted either as Echidna or a personified Hydra
c. ...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink
Portrait - Original Ink and Watercolor on Paper - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait is an original Modern artwork realized in the half of the 18th Century in France.
Original watercolor on ivory paper.
The work is surrounded by a colored frame.
The sig...
Category
Modern 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Ink
George Edwards, Engravings of Birds, published by Seligmann, 1770.
Located in Richmond, GB
Price is per each framed print.
"Sammlung Verschiedenr Auslandischer und Selener Vogel", Nuremberg 1770-1773. Edited by Johann Michael Seligmann (1749 -1776): engravings with origin...
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Engraving
Le Menuet
Located in Paris, Île-de-France
Attributed to Gabriel-Jacques de Saint-Aubin (Paris, 1724 – 1780)
Le Menuet, circa 1765–1770
Red chalk on paper
13 3/8 x 8 1/4 in (34 x 21 cm)
Verso: black chalk and red chalk
Unsi...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Chalk, Laid Paper
$17,800
18th Century Watercolour - Court Scene
Located in Corsham, GB
Signed and dated indistinctly under the mount. Presented in a gilt frame and wash-line mount. On paper.
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Landscape with Cattle
By Hendrick V. Tavernier
Located in Chicago, IL
verso: signed and dated "H. Tavernier, 1779"
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Framed 18th Century Pen and Ink Drawings - Designs for Capital
Base Supports
Located in Corsham, GB
Framed 18th-century pen and ink drawings of elaborate capital and base supports, inspired by Ancient Greek architecture and design. Well presented in a fluted gilt-effect frame. Unsi...
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pen
Sacra Famiglia - Etching - Late 18th century
Located in Roma, IT
Sacra Famiglia is a print artwork on paper in the late 18th century by an Anonymous Artist.
Etching on paper
Good conditions with slight foxing and age margins
Category
Modern 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Etching
Louis-Félix de La Rue (1730-1777) Putti playing around a sculpture, drawing
Located in Paris, FR
Louis-Félix de La Rue (1730-1777)
Putti playing around a sculpture, a mythological scene
Pen and brown ink on paper
15.4 x 31 cm
In good condition
The ancient mount has has a smal...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink
Early Naturalistic Wildlife Animal Rendering of a Possible Capuchin Monkey
Located in Houston, TX
Early naturalistic wildlife rendering by the English artist Peter Paillou. The work features a delicately rendered depiction of a possible capuchin monke...
Category
Naturalistic 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gouache
Garden
s Flowers - Ink and Watercolor Drawing by Jan Pieter Verdussen - 1750s
Located in Roma, IT
Garden's Flowers is a beautiful artwork realized by Jan Peter Verdussen.
In good condition.
Not signed.
Passepartout included ( 48.8 x 33.8 cm).
The artwork represents a Garden's...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
French School Of The 18th century, An Ancient Shipyard, Drawing
Located in Paris, FR
French school of the 18th century
An ancient shipyard or building site (?)
Ink and ink wash on paper
17.5 x 23 cm
In a modern frame 32 x 37 cm
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink
$427 Sale Price
25% Off
Vue de Macerata et de sa Campagne - drawing by J. P. Verdussen - 1742
Located in Roma, IT
China ink and watercolour on paper.
Some foxing, otherwise very good condition.
Titled and dated.
Includes passepartout.
Category
18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
Study for a Frontispiece, a baroque drawing by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini
By Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini
Located in PARIS, FR
This masterly frontispiece study, executed with a very sure hand, testifies to the survival of the great Baroque taste in 18th century Venice. It could be one of the very last works by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini: the few lines that cross the papal arms evoke those of Benedict XIV, who became pope in 1740, one year before the artist's death.
1. Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini and the European influence of Venetian history painting in the 18th century
Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini was born in Venice in 1675 and trained in the studio of the Milanese painter Paolo Pagani (1655 - 1716). Pagani, who had been living in Venice since 1667, took him to Moravia and Vienna from 1690 to 1696. After a stay in Rome from 1699 to 1701, Pellegrini married Angiola Carriera in 1704, the sister of the great pastelist Rosalba Carriera.
From 1708 onwards, Pellegrini left Venice and began an extensive tour of Europe: he worked in England between 1708 and 1713, where he met great success, particularly at Kimbolton Castle and Castle Howard. He then worked in Germany and the Netherlands, then in Bohemia and Austria, before returning briefly to England in 1719. In 1720 he was in Paris where he decorated the ceilings of the Royal Bank for John Law...
Category
Old Masters 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink
Venus
Located in London, GB
Richard Westall, R.A. (1765-1836)
Venus
signed and dated ‘R. Westall 1794’ (lower right)
pencil and watercolour, with white heightening
image 11 ⅞ x 15 ¼ in. (30.2 x 38.7 cm.)
frame 22 ⅛ x 26 in. (56.3 x 66.1 cm.)
Provenance:
Private Collection, UK.
Venus (1794) was produced during a highly creative and defining period of Richard Westall’s career and artistic development, when from 1790-95 the ambitious young artist was sharing a house at 57 Greek Street, Soho, with his friend Sir Thomas Lawrence, the future President of the Royal Academy.
Whilst lodging together, Lawrence became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1791, Westall the following year, and both were elected full-members in 1794 – the year Lawrence was appointed Painter-in-Ordinary to His Majesty King George III. Westall was to become Queen Victoria’s first Drawing Master, before her ascension to the throne.
It was in this very year, 1794 - as the two young artists became Royal Academicians - that the present watercolour was executed, and it is exciting to speculate that Lawrence would have examined and given his thoughts on the work.
Highly comparable to The Wallace Collection’s Nymph and cupids (c.1793, cat. P757), acquired by Francis Seymour-Conway (1777-1842), 3rd Marquess of Hertford, (who hung it in his bedroom), the mid-1790s saw Westall exhibiting and returning to similar subject-matter on a number of occasions. Two works with titles that could be applied to the present picture were exhibited at the Royal Academy, in 1794 (no. 341 Nymph and Cupids) and 1795 (no. 620, A Wood–nymph and Cupids). However, a print after the watercolour, engraved by F. Screen, entitles the piece Venus.
Westall is regarded as a great virtuoso watercolourist, and Venus is evidence of the young artist’s mastery of the medium. Indeed, it is unusual to find a watercolour of comparable age so well preserved, and retaining such vibrancy - the superb condition providing an insight into his exceptional brushwork and use of colour.
Venus languishes luxuriously on her woodland bed, the trunk of a tree resembling a curtain, while three winged putti play beside her, seeming to gesture to someone in the woods. Cupid draws back his bow and aims an arrow of love, perhaps about to pierce the heart of a hunting nobleman, or unsuspecting woodcutter. The striking contrast between the almost luminescent nymph, with the deep, rich, luxuriant forest, gives the glade an alluring sense of mystery – perhaps an allusion to the mysteries of the heart, a pre-occupation with Romanticism, central to the emerging thought of the time. Westall can be classified as one of the great Romantic artists, and even painted Lord Byron’s portrait...
Category
Romantic 18th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Pencil
$25,331
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