January 5, 2012
Sometimes we deviate away from the world of watercolour and this article is one of those deviations. It’s timely however as David Hockney has recently exhibited at the Royal Academy and is a British artist who has been massively influential in the field of Pop Art in particular.
Hockney was born in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1937 and, after attending the Bradford College of Art, enrolled at the Royal College of Art in London in 1959. It was here that he was taught by the notable American Pop Artist Ronald Brooks Kitaj who almost certainly influenced him along that path. From this point on it was clear Hockney was an artist with no little talent, especially in the field of Pop Art, but his first pieces of work such as We Two Boys Together Clinging (1961) owed more to expressionism than to any other school.
We Two Boys Together Clinging, (1961)
David Hockney’s Pop Art career was kickstarted after he visited the United States in 1963, hooking up with Andy Warhol and presumably the other creative types who associated with Warhol during that period. Not long after this visit he relocated to California where he began to create the series of paintings featuring swimming pools which could be argued define Hockney’s Pop Art work during this period. The lively colours and realistic tone of the paintings marked Hockney out as an innovative Pop Art talent.
Picture of a Hollywood swimming pool (1964)
David Hockney’s career has been one of innovation, new mediums and a desire to understand new technologies and how they integrate with art. He became a talented photographer during the late 1960s and even gave up canvas for photography for a period before returning to painting. He has designed magazine covers and stage sets for ballets and operas.
A Bigger Grand Canyon (1998)
Still working today, Hockney is still innovating, notably using iPhone and iPad applications to create portraits. In 1998 he created what is arguably one of his most memorable works of art, 60 separate paintings which fit together to form one giant painting entitled A Bigger Grand Canyon (1998).
David Hockney has been described as one of the 20th century’s most influential British artists and it’s not hard to understand why.
Categories: English Artists, Non-Watercolour Artists.
Tags: a bigger grand canyon, andy warhol, british pop art, david hockney, pop art, r b kitaj, royal college of art, swimming pools
September 29, 2011
Rowland Frederick Hilder was an English marine and landscape artist and whilst he may not be as well known as Turner, he has still gained the reputation of being ‘the Turner of his generation’.
Hilder was born on 28 June 1905 in Greatneck, New York, where as a child he caught his first glimpse of pictures hanging on walls when his father took him to the mansions of the resident millionaires. When the First World War broke out in 1914, the family decided to sail back to England. A perceptive schoolmaster recognised that Hilder had a natural talent for drawing and set him on the road to Goldsmith’s College School of Art in London where he studied in the 1920s.
He decided early on that watercolour painting was what appealed to him most, however he could find no one to teach him so he taught himself, by studying the classic English masters. Hilder went on to become a distinguished painter of oils and watercolours, as well as illustrator for numerous books including Moby Dick, Treasure Island and Mary Webb’s Precious Bane.
However his favourite painting country was the rolling northern downland in Kent, from Shoreham eastwards towards Maidstone. He was also a great sailor and kept a coastguard’s cottage at Shell Ness, at the mouth of the river Swale, as his base for marine painting.
Hilder was the first to see the drama and picturesque beauty of the oast-houses in Kent with their white caps and surrounding orchards and he shares with John Constable the distinction of having seen an entire region of England identified with his name and art. The description ‘Rowland Hilder country’ attached primarily to the weald of Kent evokes a landscape as distinctive as ‘Constable’s country’ along the Suffolk Stour.
He died on 21 April 1993 in Greenwich, London and following his death the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, for whom he had served as President from 1964 to 1974, honoured him by instituting an annual Rowland Hilder award in his memory.
Categories: English Artists, European Artists, Watercolour Facts.
Tags: british artist, rowland hilder, rowland hilder country, royal institute of painters in watercolour, watercolor artists, watercolour artists
September 22, 2011
Following on from our last post, here are all the winners of this year’s Sunday Times Watercolour competition.
First prize – £10,000 – John Hunt
John Hunt studied Art and Design at the Hammersmith College of Art in London (1972-76) and later Graphic Design at Reigate College of Art (1986-88). He has worked as a Freelance Illustrator and Lecturer teaching Art in Adult Education. John’s prize winning painting, “A Hill Near Stroud”, was painted on a recent visit to the area with his wife.
'A Hill Near Stroud' by John Hunt
Second Prize – £6,000 – Jonathan Pitts
Jonathan Pitts studied Fine Art at Falmouth College of Art (2002-05) and since then he has had numerous exhibitions. Jonathan is a young and emerging ‘en plein air’ landscape artist. He makes all his paintings outside from start to finish, often in adverse weather conditions.
'Twilight 14/12/10, Pensham' by Jonathan Pitts
Smith and Williamson Cityscape Prize – £1,500 – Dennis Roxby Bott RWS
Dennis Roxby Bott studied at the Colchester School of Art followed by the Norwich School of Art. He became a member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1983. Architecture has provided the inspiration for much of his work. He has had several one man exhibitions and has had work commissioned by the National Trust and Sothebys, among others.
Vintage Classics Prize for Cover Art – £500 – Philip Ciolina
We mentioned Philip Ciolina’s work in our last post. He studied painting at the RCA in London and the Cite International des Art in Paris. He has exhibited internationally (Italy, Spain, Germany and the USA) and his work has been displayed at the Hayward, Barbican, Art First and the Fine Art Society.
Highly Commended – Ruth Berry RWS
June Berry studied painting at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. In 2001 she was elected vice president of the Royal Watercolour Society.
Highly Commended – David Paul Gleeson
David Gleeson is based in Stafford and studied Visual Art at Aberystwyth University.
Categories: English Artists, European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour News.
Tags: 2011 winners of Sunday Times Watercolour competition, david gleeson, dennis roxby bott, john hunt, jonathan pitts, philip ciolina, ruth berry, sunday times watercolour competition 2011, watercolour artists
August 2, 2011
John Knapp-Fisher is one of the best-loved artists of the Welsh coast and today, 3rd August 2011 he celebrates his 80th birthday. And to mark this milestone birthday, John’s about to stage one of his biggest exhibitions yet, which he has been working towards for the last two years.
Knapp-Fisher was born in 1931 in London. After studying graphic design at Maidstone College of Art, John first worked as an exhibition designer in London and it was here in 1958 that he began to concentrate on painting and exhibiting. He later became the set designer for the Theatre Royal Margate and the Castle Theatre Farnham.
He moved to Pembrokeshire in West Wales in the mid 1960s, and his lifelong love of boats and the sea – he built them, sailed them and later lived aboard one for several years – is reflected in much of his subject matter, as is his love of the Pembrokeshire landscape. Indeed, his name has become synonymous with Pembrokeshire landscape painting and his work is highly sought after – he has exhibited widely in Britain and abroad, including mainland Europe, Africa and North America, and has developed a large and loyal following.
Today his work is represented in many public and private collections, including National Museum Wales, the National Library of Wales and The Contemporary Art Society for Wales.
Talking about his forthcoming 80th birthday exhibition, John says “I think this collection is one of my best as I’ve been working towards it for two or three years. I shall not be going on to have too many more big shows – I’m more interested in retrospective shows now.”
The exhibition, which will consist of almost 50 paintings will be shown at the Martin Tinney Gallery, Cardiff from 4 to 27 August 2011. As well as some of the striking white-washed cottages for which he’s become famous, the latest collection will include scenes of Pembrokeshire as well as images of London and the Suffolk coastal town of Aldeburgh where he once lived.
Categories: English Artists, European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour News.
Tags: 2011 watercolour exhibitions, british artist, john knapp-fisher, watercolour, watercolour artists
July 26, 2011
Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding, commonly called Copley Fielding was an English painter who was famous for his watercolour landscapes. In fact Fielding came from an entire family of artists but he was the most well-known.
He was born on November 22 1797 in Sowerby Bridge, near Halifax, England and at an early age he became a pupil of John Varley (see previous post entitled “John Varley – Watercolourist & Drawing Master”). He even went on to marry Varley’s sister-in-law in 1813.
In 1810 he became an associate exhibitor in the Old Watercolour Society and then three years later a full member. He went on to become the President of this Society, later known as the Royal Watercolour Society, in 1831, a position he held until his death (see previous post about the “History of Royal Watercolour Society” for more information). In 1824 he won a gold medal at the Paris Salon alongside John Constable and Richard Parkes Bonington.
Like his teacher before him, Fielding also engaged largely in teaching the art but unlike John Varley he made ample profits.
Copley Fielding’s paintings were always highly popular with purchasers as he was an artist of much elegance, taste and accomplishment. Early in his career he specialized in scenes of Wales and the Lake District, occasionally in oil colour but his preferred medium was always watercolour. He was enormously prolific and much of his later work is repetitive.
From 1817 he spent much of his time on the south coast because of his wife’s health, and turned increasingly to seascapes and marine subjects. He died in Worthing, Sussex on March 3 1855.
Today, specimens of his work from 1829 to 1850 can be seen in the water-colour gallery of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as well as other major museums. Among the engraved specimens of his art is the ‘Annual of British Landscape Scenery’ published in 1839.
Categories: English Artists, European Artists, Watercolour Facts.
Tags: anthony vandyke copley fielding, british artist, copley fielding, royal watercolour society, watercolor artists, watercolour artists
July 20, 2011
In a few of our previous posts, we have made mention to John Varley in his capacity as an art teacher and the influence he undoubtedly had on his pupils, such as David Cox and Peter De Wint, so we thought it appropriate to learn a little more about this celebrated teacher who was also an excellent watercolourist in his own right.
John Varley was born in Hackney, London on 17 August 1778. His father, Richard Varley, had settled in London after the death of his first wife. For a brief time John Varley was employed by a portrait painter and then, at the age of 15 or 16, he attended an evening drawing school twice a week in Holborn, London run by Joseph Charles Barrow. It was Barrow who took Varley on his first sketching tour to Peterborough from which he was to emerge as a professional painter.
Throughout his career he worked primarily in watercolour and was particularly skilled at the laying of flat washes of watercolour which suited the placid, contemplative mood that he often sought to evoke.
In 1798 he exhibited a highly regarded sketch of Peterborough Cathedral at the Royal Academy and became a regular exhibitor at the RA until the foundation of the Old Watercolour Society in 1805 (see previous article ‘History of the Royal Watercolour Society’).
As one of the founders of the OWS Varley exhibited many pieces there, over 700 drawings in total. In between sketching expeditions to Wales and Yorkshire, he executed topographical views of towns, particularly of half-timbered buildings in Hereford, Leominster, Conway and Chester, drawn in the picturesque idiom of the late 18th century.
As previously mentioned, he also became a highly successful drawing master with pupils including David Cox, Copley Fielding and John Linnell but despite his success he was constantly in financial difficulties.
He died in London on 17 November 1842, aged 64.
Categories: English Artists, European Artists, Watercolour Societies.
Tags: british artist, john varley artist, royal watercolour society, watercolour, watercolour artists
July 14, 2011
If we were to first show you one of Kieron Williamson’s paintings, we think you would be impressed by the standard. However, if we were then to tell you that Kieron is still only eight years of age, we think you would be blown away.
Kieron was born on 4th August 2002 in Holt, Norfolk and was a typical energetic toddler who showed little interest in drawing until he was five years old, when, on the family’s first holiday to Devon and Cornwall, he was inspired to start drawing the boats and scenery. “At the time, they were like the drawings of most five-year-olds” said his mum, Michelle “but he really took off after going to some art classes.”
As time progressed, so did Kieron’s abilities. Whilst his parents, Michelle and Keith were not themselves artistic, they did enjoy art and collected works by Norfolk artists, so, when Kieron started to ask for help with putting paintings together, his parents turned to their local galleries and the artists who exhibited there for help.
During the summer of 2008, aged just six, Kieron used to spend an hour a week with Carol Pennington at ‘The Last Picture Show in Town’ in Holt and whilst Carol’s style was very contemporary and gave Kieron an opportunity to ‘loosen up’, he still kept to his own style.
As Kieron’s work consistently progressed, Michelle and Keith would regularly take it down to the ‘Picturcraft Gallery’ in Holt to get their opinion, and with kind support from Picturecraft, another local artist, Brian Ryder, agreed for Kieron to attend his adults evening watercolour course in 2009. Another huge help in Kieron’s development has been artist, Tony Garner, who offered Kieron pastel workshops and one to one tuition in the Gallery. In August 2009, two days before his seventh birthday, Kieron held his first exhibition and his 16 paintings sold out in 14 minutes, raising a total of £18,200 for 16 paintings. A subsequent exhibition in Holt in July 2010 saw his paintings all sold within 30 minutes, at a total value of £150,000.
Kieron has become a global phenomenon and has been described as a child prodigy. His paintings have sold worldwide, he has interest from over 35 countries and has over 1,800 followers.
Categories: English Artists, European Artists.
Tags: british artist, child prodigy, kieron williamson, watercolor artists, watercolour artists, young watercolour artists
July 10, 2011
Beach at Rhyl
David Cox was one of the most important figures in British Art during the so-called ‘Golden Age of Watercolour painting’ with a reputation for his fresh, lively landscape paintings and was considered by his contemporaries to be rivalled only by Constable in his portrayal of nature’s moods and the British weather.
He was born on April 29 1782 in Birmingham, UK and he initially studied drawing with Joseph Barber and also Fieldler, a painter of miniatures. Following Fieldler’s suicide he went on to become a scenery painter at Birmingham Theatre Royal and at Astley’s Theatre in London where he moved to in 1804 and took lessons from the celebrated watercolourist John Varley. While living in London he married Mary Ragg, the daughter of his landlady and in 1808, the couple moved to Dulwich. At the same time, he abandoned scene-painting for the theatre, and took up watercolour painting for which he was to become so famous.
Whilst he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1805, his paintings never reached high prices, so he earned his living mainly as a drawing master.
By 1810 he was elected President of the Associated Artists in Water Colour and following the demise of the Associated Artists in 1812, he was elected as associate of the Society of Painters in Water Colour (the old Water Colour Society). He was elected a full Member of the Society in 1813, and exhibited there every year (except 1815 and 1817) until his death.
Between 1814 and 1827 he was based in Hereford where he taught at a girl’s school. He moved back to London in 1827, and was by this time quite well-known as a painter of landscapes. In 1826 he toured France, Holland and Belgium and, in 1829 and 1832, returned once more to France. Between 1844 and 1856 he made annual visits to North Wales where he made some of his finest watercolours. In 1841 he moved to Harborne, Birmingham where he lived and painted until his death in 1858.
David Cox also had a son of the same name who followed his calling as a watercolour painter. He was born in Dulwich and educated in Hereford. He exhibited in London from 1827, although today he is known mainly through association with his father.
Categories: European Artists, Watercolour Facts.
Tags: british artist, david cox biography, royal institute of painters in watercolour, royal watercolour society, watercolour artists
July 3, 2011
In our previous posts detailing the history of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, we referred to some of the founder members of these Societies and in our next few articles, we will provide further background to some of these artists.
First up is Peter De Wint who is probably one of the most important figures in the history of the watercolour medium. His work today is still represented in major public and private collections throughout the world and is one of the most popular and sought after of all the British Romantic watercolourists.
De Wint was born on 21 January 1784 in Stone, Staffordshire and was the son of an English physician of Dutch extraction. In 1802 he was apprenticed to the engraver and portrait painter, John Raphael Smith and in 1806 in visited Lincoln for the first time where he met his future wife, Harriet Hilton as well as John Varley, the celebrated teacher and Dr Thomas Monro, who ran an informal academy for young artists. Both Varley and Munro were major influences on the development of De Wint’s style.
De Wint first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1807, and in 1809 he entered the Royal Academy schools. He was elected an Associate of the Old Watercolour Society in 1810 and was made a full member the following year. By that time, he had also built a very successful practice as a teacher and each summer would be spent teaching at the home of one of his patrons.
In 1812 he became a member of the Society of Painters in Watercolours, where he exhibited largely for many years, as well as at the Academy.
He frequently visited his wife’s home city of Lincoln, and many of his panoramic landscapes and haymaking scenes are set in Lincolnshire. He occasionally toured in Wales, and in 1828 travelled to Normandy.
He died in London on 30 January 1849.
De Wint’s life was devoted to art and he is quoted by his wife as often saying ” I do so love painting. I am never so happy as when looking at nature. Mine is a beautiful profession.”
Categories: European Artists, Watercolour Societies.
Tags: british artist, peter de wint, royal institute of painters in watercolour, royal watercolour society, watercolor artists, watercolour artists
June 17, 2011
One of the key aims of the Royal Watercolour Society is to make the work of their members available to the general public and they achieve this by holding a number of exhibitions throughout the year, both solo exhibitions of individual artists but also exhibitions where all their members can display their latest work.
The two main Royal Watercolour Society exhibitions are held twice a year, in the spring and autumn at their home at the Bankside Gallery but they have two special exhibitions coming up this summer.
A Year in the Life of the Royal Albert Hall
This successful exhibition, which has been on show at the Royal Albert Hall (see our previous post dated May 1 for more details) is coming to the Bankside Gallery. ’A Year in the Life of the Royal Albert Hall’ is the culmination of a partnership between the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Albert Hall and sees the ‘coming-together’ of these two Royal institutions, where for the first time, Members of the Royal Watercolour Society have been given access to the iconic building in order to capture the events which took place at this working venue over the period of one year, from on stage performances to behind the scenes.
The exhibition takes place at the Bankside Gallery from 28th June to 3rd July 2011.
High Watermark II
After 182 years of rivalry, the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) and the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), who we have also previously featured on this site, will be temporarily joining forces for the second time, as they present an exhibition of paintings by both Societies’ Members under the same roof!
The biennial combined RWS/RI exhibition is rapidly becoming a must see event which showcases the best of contemporary watercolour painting by members of the two major Royal watercolour societies. The exhibition begins at Bankside Gallery and concludes at the Mall Galleries (see below for schedule of dates).
Bankside Gallery – 8th to 24th July 2011
Mall Galleries – 16th to 20th August 2011
Royal Watercolour Society Autumn Exhibition
A bit of prior notice but this year’s Autumn exhibition by the Royal Watercolour Society will take place between 7th October and 5th November 2011 where you will be able to see it’s Members latest vibrant pieces.
Categories: European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour Societies.
Tags: 2011 watercolour exhibitions, high water mark II exhibition, royal institute of painters in watercolour, royal watercolour society, royal watercolour society exhibitions, upcoming exhibitions
June 8, 2011
In our last post, we provided you with a brief history of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS), and we made reference to another society calling themselves the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, who would go on to become the Royal Institute of 
Painters in Water Colours (RI).
Like the RWS, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours is one of the oldest societies of professional watercolour painters and both societies were started at a time when the Royal Academy was refusing to accept watercolours as a suitable medium for serious artistic expression, despite its use by many highly regarded painters.
The RI was inaugurated in 1807 as an alternative to the RWS, who only exhibited the work of its own members. From the start the RI showed the work of non-members’ alongside that of members and their exhibitions attracted some of the foremost watercolourists of the time including David Cox, Peter De Wint, William Blake, Samuel Prout, Paul Sandby and Joseph Powell. Financial problems caused them to fold in 1812 but in 1831, Joseph Powell, with several like minded artists, resurrected the New Society of Painters in Water Colours but unfortunately they decided to abandon the policy of exhibiting together both non-members and member’s work thus losing a vital component of the difference between themselves and the RWS.
In 1863 the New Society became the Institute of Painters in Water Colours and two years later a new group of watercolour painters was inaugurated, known as the Dudley, whose exhibitions were open to all-comers thereby filling the gap left when the New Society closed their doors to outsiders. In 1883 the Institute and the Dudley joined forces and this amalgamation saw a significant change in the Institute’s exhibition policy, and after many years of exhibitions limited to the work of members only, the RI once again opened their doors to all comers, a policy still followed today. It was in 1885, by command of Queen Victoria, that the Institute was able to add the prefix ‘Royal’ to its title.
Categories: European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour Facts, Watercolour Societies.
Tags: new society of painters in watercolour, royal institute of painters in watercolour, royal watercolour society
May 30, 2011
Bankside Gallery - Home of the 'RWS'
In one of our previous posts entitled ‘Royal Watercolour Society Exhibition – A Year in the Life of the Royal Albert Hall’ we touched on the work of the Royal Watercolour Society and we thought it would be a good idea to give you a bit more history on the world’s oldest watercolour society.
Founded in 1804, essentially the Royal Watercolour Society originated as a protest group of watercolour artists who felt they were being poorly represented by the Royal Academy and were dissatisfied by the way in which their watercolour pictures were hung disadvantageously amongst the oil paintings. Also, the Royal Academy would not elect as their president an artist who painted only in watercolour.
This renegade group of artists therefore decided to form their own society for watercolours only and hence the Watercolour Society was born.
Another society calling itself the ‘New Society of Painters in Miniature and Watercolour’ was set up a couple of years later, and from this time the original group was called the ‘Old’ Watercolour Society, however later on they were given permission by Queen Victoria to use ‘Royal’ in their title, hence the name today ‘The Royal Watercolour Society’.
Founder members included John Varley, Joshua Cristall and George Barratt who were painters of landscape mostly in the Old Master tradition. Within a few years, David Cox, Peter de Wint and Copley Fielding joined the Society, bringing much needed vitality. As time went on artists such as William Hunt, Miles Birkett Foster, JF Lewis and Samuel Palmer also became members, and the society flourished. There was no coherent ‘RWS style’ and it was not a school of painting in the sense of the French or Italian schools.
Instead it was simply a society that many of the finest painters in watercolour of the time wanted to join, whose only relation to each other artistically was the fact that they had elected each other to membership. This tradition of electing members remains in place today and new members are elected by the current Membership of the Society based on the quality of their work alone.
Categories: European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour Facts, Watercolour Societies.
Tags: bankside gallery, royal watercolour society, watercolor artists, watercolour artists
May 22, 2011
Samuel Prout was a painter, draughtsman and writer and is arguably one of the masters of British watercolour architectural painting.
He was born on 17th September 1783 in Plymouth, England and together with his fellow pupil, Benjamin Robert Haydon, Prout was encouraged at an early age to study drawing by Dr John Bidlake, the headmaster of the grammar school he attended in Plymouth. In 1801, he met the topographer and antiquarian, John Britton, who was so impressed with his work, he invited him to London to make drawings of antiquarian subjects and copy works of other artists, including Thomas Hearne, William Alexander and J. M. W. Turner. So in 1803 he moved to London where he met his future wife, Elizabeth Gillespie whom he married in 1810 and together they had four children.
To earn a living for him and his family, he painted marine pieces, took in students, and published drawing books for learners. He was one of the first to use lithography in his artwork but it was not until about 1818 that he truly discovered his niche when he made his first visit to the Continent. His eye caught the picturesque features of the architecture which he went on to record with skill and immediately established his reputation with these Continental street scenes, gaining praise from the likes of John Ruskin, whose work often emulated Prout’s. Ruskin was quoted as saying “Sometimes I tire of Turner, but never of Prout”.
In 1829, Prout secured the coveted position of ’Painter in Water-Colours in Ordinary’ to King George IV and afterwards to Queen Victoria.
Prout is often compared to his contemporaries such as Turner, Gainsborough, Constable and Ruskin, whom he also taught, but whilst Turner concentrated on the beauties of nature, Prout was much more interested by the cityscape. There was hardly a place in France, Germany, Italy (particularly Venice) or the Netherlands where he had not visited, searching out sculptured pieces of stone or antique gables to paint.
He died in February 1852 at his home in London following after a stroke and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery.
Categories: European Artists.
Tags: british artist, samuel prout biography, watercolor artists, watercolour artists
May 1, 2011
The Royal Watercolour Society represents the finest watercolour painting in Britain. Established in 1804, it is the oldest watercolour society in the world, and is second only to the Royal Academy of Art in it’s importance as an art society.
The Society has defined a watercolour to mean “a painting in a water-based medium on a paper-based support”. This allows the work by the Members, who are all elected by their peers, to embrace both established and experimental practices and the Royal Watercolour Society exhibitions reflect these different approaches. These exhibitions are held twice a year, in the spring and autumn, at their home in the Bankside Gallery but they also hold special exhibitions throughout the year, one of which is currently on at the moment in the Royal Albert Hall.
Royal Albert Hall - Winter
“A Year in the Life of the Royal Albert Hall” is the culmination of a year-long partnership between the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Albert Hall, where for the first time, Members of the Royal Watercolour Society have been allowed full access to the Royal Albert Hall and have been working backstage and behind the scenes to capture the many events that take place there. The result is a collection of large watercolours which are currently being exhibited along the ground floor corridor and tell the fascinating story of a year in the life of the Hall, from it’s various performances and audiences, to it’s staff, restaurants, and even the boiler room!
The exhibition is taking place from 23rd April to 7th June 2011 and can be viewed either when attending a performance at the Hall or by visiting on one of the following free open days, when Society Members will be available to discuss their work and their experience of painting at the Royal Albert Hall.
Saturday 23rd April, 11am – 3pm
Sunday 15th May, 11am – 3pm
Saturday 21st May, 11am – 3pm
Categories: European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour Facts.
Tags: 2011 watercolour exhibitions, royal albert hall, royal watercolour society, watercolor, watercolour
April 26, 2011
When researching the history of watercolor painting, reference is often made to Hans Bol, as leader of one of the first schools of watercolor painting in Germany but what else do we know about Hans Bol?Read on to find out.
Well, he was born in 1534 in Holland and learned his trade from his two uncles who were also painters. At the age of fourteen, he became an apprentice to a Mechelen painter whose speciality was ‘Waterschilderen’, large scale scenes painted on canvas using opaque watercolor or tempera which were used as wall decorations instead of expensive tapestries.
It is thought that Bol’s watercolors were so widely copied that he turned to making miniatures on parchment which earned him many international clients and a good income. In addition, Bol also produced several oil paintings, illuminated manuscripts, drawings and engravings.
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus
Despite the war with Spain and periods of religious unrest that led to frequent upheavals in his life, Bol continued to remain one of the most prolific and successful landscapists in the Netherlands. Many of his paintings were views of the Flemish landscape, usually including small figures enacting a mythological or biblical scene. One of his most famous works of art is the ‘Landscape with the Fall of Icarus’ which was described in detail and highly praised by Karel van Mander in the 17th century. It was inspired by Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ in which the ancient myth of Icarus is told. In fact Bol chose the Icarus theme on several occasions.
Although Bol was once an important and admired painter, he is really only known today through his small drawings and most of his larger paintings appear to have been lost which makes his miniatures all the more important, because they are probably reproductions of his grander masterpieces. Consequently, Bol ought to be viewed not only as a superior miniature painter, but above all as an important artist who played a key role in the development of landscape art.
Categories: European Artists.
April 17, 2011
Since 1987, Adrian Schiess has successfully exhibited his trademark “flat” paintings internationally. He enjoyed his first US solo museum exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art beginning October 19, 2007.
Born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1959, he is considered to be one of the most important contemporary artists today. Schiess recently began referring to his flat works as painting. Monochromatic painting or concrete art is often misinterpreted as his trademark or signature. Initially, the majority of Adrian Schiess’ work was not even classified as painting by the international art community. While he claimed to be concerned with painting as a joyful activity, he gained international recognition with his “flat works” – painted hardboards.
He calls his work, “A happening of seeing.” In early exhibitions, the paintings were the central focus. Schiess filled entire rooms with panels painted in monochrome colors on flat surfaces. The artist developed his painting on wood, paper, aluminum and photos and distributed them on the ground or on walls.
The pieces formed a parallel to his watercolor painting by use of rough edges. Both sets of work represent fragments of dreams or torn pieces of ecstatic leftovers creating concrete and illusionary meaning.
For over 20 years, Schiess has worked in the fragile media. He currently has 59 works in 84 publications offered in 9 languages.
Categories: European Artists, German Artists.
Tags: adrian schiess
April 4, 2011
Paul Sandby was an English map-maker turned landscape watercolourist, who, together with this older brother, Thomas was one of the founder members of the Royal Academy.
He was born in Nottingham, England in 1730 and this is where he first began to work with his brother before they both moved to London in the early 1940s to join the Ordnance drawing room at the Tower of London and train as military draughtsmen.
In 1747, Paul Sandby was given the job as chief draughtsman of mapping the Scottish highlands and it was whilst undertaking this commission that he began to produce watercolour landscapes to document the changes in Scotland after the 1745 rebellion, as well as sketches of important Scottish events such as the hanging of John Young in 1751. And this is when news of his talent began to spread.
In 1752, Paul left Scotland and went to live with his brother, who was then the Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park, where together they produced landscapes of the Royal Estates at Windsor; the royal collection alone includes over 500 images painted by the Sandby brothers.
The brothers had much in common as watercolourists, but Paul was by far the better artist and also more versatile in his work. In fact he was singled out by Thomas Gainsborough, who himself declined a commission from at least one of his patrons who wanted views of his country estate with the words, “with respect to real views from nature in this country…Paul Sandby is the only Man of Genius…who has employed his pencil that way”.
But in addition to the topographical views, Sandby was also concerned with elevating the regard in which landscape was held at the Royal Academy, and he therefore painted many large imaginary views in watercolour which he wanted to be hung alongside oils on the walls of the Academy and the homes of his patrons.
He died in 1809 and was described in his obituaries as “the father of modern landscape painting in watercolours”.
Categories: European Artists, Watercolour Facts.
Tags: paul sandby biography, thomas gainsborough, watercolor artists, watercolour artists
March 23, 2011
John Sell Cotman was a watercolourist and etcher who was born in Norwich, England in May 1782.
He left Norwich at the tender age of 16 to study in London, where he became a member of Dr Monro’s circle and met the painters J.M.W. Turner and Thomas Girtin (both of whom we have previously featured on this website).
Despite having very little formal training in art, by 1800 he was already exhibiting watercolours at the annual Royal Academy exhibition and between 1800 and 1805, he produced some of his best work. In fact his paintings from this period, including the celebrated ‘Greta Bridge’ (circa 1805) are considered to be amongst the finest English landscape paintings of the time as they include some great examples of the classic English watercolour technique and show remarkable boldness and sureness of hand.
Greta Bridge
Unfortunately his work did not bring him much success at the time, so in 1806 he returned to Norwich, where he became one of the the most important representatives of the Norwich School. His work not only depicted the local scenery but also that of France, where he made several trips to and his style of painting in his later years became much more flamboyant. It is thought that he mixed flour or rice paste with his watercolours to produce an effect similar to that of oil painting. In fact, during his career, he did also use the medium of oil to paint in, but this area of his work has definitely been overshadowed by his great achievement as a watercolourist.
In 1834 he moved back to London where he became professor of drawing at King’s College which he was delighted with as he was struggling to make a living at this time just through his paintings and he had found himself in debt.
He held this position at King’s College until his death in July 1842 and for most of the twentieth century, John Sell Cotman even surpassed Turner’s popularity as being the most widely admired English watercolourist.
Categories: European Artists.
Tags: british artist, j. m. w. turner, john sell cotman biography, thomas girtin, watercolor artists, watercolour artists
February 20, 2011
Paul Cezanne was born on 19th January 1839 in Aix-en-Provence, France and was the son
of a wealthy banker. He showed an interest for art at an early age and in 1861 he joined his boyhood companion and fellow artist, Emile Zola in Paris. However, he lasted only 6 months there and returned to Aix-en-Provence to work with his father. This was also a failure and convinced him to try a painter’s life again and he was to spend the next twenty years dividing his time between the Midi and Paris.
Whilst in Paris he met Camille Pissarro and others of the impressionist group, however he remained an outsider as his work was consistently rejected by the official SALON. His early work up until 1870, often referred to as his early ‘romantic period’ was very sombre in nature and used extremely heavy paintwork. Thankfully Cezanne moved on from this approach and thereafter his work can conveniently be divided into three phases.
In the early 1870s, thanks to his association with Pissarro, with whom he often painted, he loosened up his brushwork and began to assimilate the principles of Impressionism through the colour and lighting of his work.
In the late 1870s he entered the phase known as ‘constructive’, whereby his work built up a sense of mass in themselves due to the hatched brushstrokes that he was using and this style was to continue until the early 1890s.
Cezanne moved into his third and final stage when he chose to live as a solitary in Aix
rather than alternating between the south and Paris, and the concentration for his work was just a few basic subjects, such as still lifes of objects found in his studio and views of a nearby landmark, Monte Sainte Victoire which he painted from his studio looking across the valley.
By the time of his death in October 1906, Cezanne’s art had begun to be shown and seen across Europe, and it became a fundamental influence on virtually all advanced art of the early 20th century.
Categories: European Artists, Watercolour Facts.
Tags: french artist, paul cezanne, watercolor, watercolour, watercolour artists
February 13, 2011
John Constable is probably regarded as one of the most important English landscape painters of the 19th century.
He was born in 1776 in East Bergholt, a small village in the picturesque county of Suffolk. His father, Golding Constable was a wealthy mill and land owner and John worked in the family business until his early twenties. In fact the intention was for John to take over the business from his father, however he was already beginning to show such a talent for art that his father allowed him to leave Suffolk in 1799 and enroll at the Royal Academy in London. It was here that he met fellow RA student, William Turner with whom he would have a long rivalry over the years.
Despite studying at the academy, John Constable remained largely self-taught because his
love was for landscape painting, and if you wanted to make a name for yourself as an artist in the 1800s, you had to paint portraits or historical pieces which did not interest Constable.
However he did have his first exhibition in London in 1802 and in the same year bought a studio back in Suffolk. He met his future wife, Maria Bricknell in 1809 and they were finally married seven years later after much hostility from Maria’s family who did not think that this penniless artist was good enough for their daughter. They had a very happy marriage and had seven children.
Constable’s wife died from tuberculosis in 1828 and it was such a pity because, aside from the huge loss Constable felt at his wife’s death, he had only just began to taste real success with his spectacular, large-sized canvases. He was the first painter to ditch the classical browns and it was his fresh, atmospheric paintings with their magnificent skies that really began to impress people. In particular he had a lot of success in France, after his work was displayed in a 1824 exhibition of English painters in Paris. His fellow Englishmen were comparatively slow to admire his genius and it wasn’t until 1829 that he finally received membership to the Royal Academy.
John Constable died unexpectedly in the night on 31st March 1837.
Categories: European Artists, Watercolour Facts.
Tags: british artist, john constable, watercolor, watercolour, watercolour artists
February 7, 2011
In our previous post, “A Brief History of Watercolour painting” we made reference to Albrecht Durer and the importance of his work during the European Renaissance period and today we are going to find out a little more about his life and work.
Albrecht Durer was born in 1471 in Nuremberg, Germany and was the son of a goldsmith. However his first artistic influence was probably from his godfather, Anton Koberger, who was a printer and publisher. Koberger’s most famous publication was the Nuremberg Chronicle, which included illustrations in wood and it is thought that Albrecht probably learnt at a very early age about woodcuts and printing while working on this publication with Koberger.
Albrecht was the first artist to create a self-portrait at the tender age of thirteen, using a mirror to draw his likeness and he would go on to produce several more portraits of himself in later years.
Albrecht’s extraordinary talent for drawing was recognised when he was fifteen years old and he became an apprentice to Michael Wolgemut who was an important artist in Nuremberg at the time. Wolgemut’s workshop became famous for creating various works of art but in particular for woodcuts for books.
Durer’s training also involved him travelling and studying abroad. In 1494, he went to Italy, and the inspiration he obtained from the Italian artists led him to return again between 1505-6. In fact the contact he had with Italian painters was clear to see in his work and he began to place greater importance on the colour in his paintings. Durer was a great admirer of Leonardo da Vinci and so intrigued was he by the Italian’s study of the human figure, that he began to apply Leonardo’s proportions to his own figures.
Durer made many works during his lifetime ranging from religious and mythological
scenes, to maps and exotic animals, but more than simply producing works for his own time, Dürer saw his to contribution to the art world as a part of history.
He died on April 6, 1528 in his home town of Nuremberg, Germany and after his death, there followed a period known as the Durer Renaissance as artists across Europe admired and copied his innovative and powerful prints.
Categories: European Artists.
Tags: albrecht durer, german, watercolor, watercolour, watercolour artists
February 4, 2011
Another one of the featured artists at the upcoming watercolour exhibition at Tate
Britain later this month is the English poet & painter, William Blake.
Blake was a reclusive but also a visionary artist of his time, who published and illustrated his own books, most of which had an obscure religious and mythical theme.
He was born in London in 1757 and his parents could only afford to give him basic schooling, though for a short time he was able to attend a drawing school.
Blake worked with his father until his talent for drawing became so obvious that he started an apprenticeship at the age of fourteen with the engraver, James Basire at age 14 and set out to make his living as an engraver.
He married when he was twenty five years of age and his wife, Catherine Boucher worked with him and together they published a book of Blake’s poems and drawings entitled “Songs of Innocence”. Unfortunately this book did not sell much during his lifetime, which meant Blake and his wife struggled close to poverty for most of their lives.
Unfortunately Blake did not have a good head for business, and he preferred to
concentrate on his own subjects rather than taking up his publisher’s requests. However, this led to lack of recognition from the public which in turn caused Blake to suffer from severe depression which he battled with for several years. Even those people close to him believed him to be insane. In fact Blake’s work received far more public acclaim after his death.
Unlike many other painters of his time, Blake liked to work on a small scale, in fact the majority of his engravings are little more than inches in height.
He died in August 1827 and was buried in an unmarked grave at Bunhill Fields, London.
Categories: European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour Facts.
Tags: british artist, exhibition, watercolor, watercolour, william blake
February 1, 2011
One of the more modern artists to be displayed at the forthcoming Watercolour
Exhibition at Tate Britain is Tracey Emin.
She has had an eventful career and it is often not her art work which puts her in the public eye (for example, everyone remembers her drunk appearance on a Channel 4 television programme in the UK in the late nighties) but she is probably only second to Damien Hirst in terms of being a so called YBA (Young British Artist) and her watercolours are amongst some of her best work.
Emin was born a twin in Croydon, London in 1963, but was brought up in Margate by her father and step mother. Her father abandoned the family home when she was still young and this lead to a decline in their standard of living which Emin portrays in a number of her works.
She initially studied art in Maidstone before returning to London to complete her MA in painting at the Royal College of Art.
She is now an accomplished artist in many different mediums including needlework, sculpture, drawing, photography but it is her watercolour painting that we are particularly interested in.
Emin’s first display of watercolours was known as the “Berlin Watercolour” series (1998) which she displayed in her Turner Prize exhibition in 1999 and also her New York show ‘Every Part of Me’s Bleeding’ held the same year. These are colourful watercolours which Emin painted whilst in Berlin in 1998 and include 4 portraits of her face and were adapted from Polaroid photos. Each painting in this series is unique but shares the same title “Berlin The Last Week in April 1998″. Emin is quoted as saying that she included the set of Berlin watercolours in the Turner Prize exhibition in response to remarks that there are no paintings submitted for the Turner Prize.
Over the last ten year’s, Emin’s focus on painting has developed and amongst her best
known works are the Purple Virgin (2004), Asleep Alone With Legs Open (2005), The Reincarnation series (2005) and Masturbating (2006), which are all along the same theme of depicting her naked with her legs open.
Categories: European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour Facts.
Tags: british artist, exhibition, tate britain, tracey emin, watercolor, watercolour
January 25, 2011
Another artist whose work will be shown at the forthcoming Watercolour exhibition at Tate Britain is Patrick Heron.
Little is probably known about this English painter, writer and designer. He was born in in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1920. His father was a clothes manufacturer and the family moved around a lot in Heron’s early years, eventually settling in Welwyn Garden City where his father founded the firm, Cresta Silks. It was whilst working for Cresta Silks that Heron designed his first silkscreen and in fact he continued to design for his father’s company for almost twenty years.
In 1937, Heron attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London on a part time basis but liked to return to the West Country to visit one of the places he had lived as child, to draw landscapes. He registered as a conscientious objector during the Second World War and worked as an agricultural labourer for three years, before being employed by the Leach Pottery in St Ives.
The Boats and the Iron Ladder
His first one-man exhibition was held at the Redfern Gallery in London in 1947 and included work such as ‘The Gas Stove’ and ‘The Boats and the Iron Ladder’, which showed the direction his painting was moving towards with the unusual use of colour and complex patterning.
After working as art critic for the New English Weekly and The New Statesman, Heron started a teaching job at the London Central School of Arts and Crafts in 1953 where he stayed for 3 years.
In 1959, Heron won the Grand Prize at the second John Moores Liverpool Exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery and surely would even have been successful at anything if he’d tried his luck.
During the Sixties and Seventies, Heron lectured around the world, culminating in his
book, The Shape of Colour in 1978 and a few years later, on a return trip to Sydney, Australia, he produced over fifty paintings while working as Artist in Residence at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
He continued painting right up until his death in March 1999 at the age of 79 and many of his works can be seen at The Tate Collection, London and at Tate, St Ives, Cornwall.
Categories: European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour Facts.
Tags: english, exhibtions, patrick heron, tate britain, watercolor, watercolour
January 20, 2011
We are going to focus over the next few weeks on those artists whose work is to be shown at the forthcoming Watercolour exhibition at Tate Britain (see previous article).
First up is Thomas Girtin, who belongs to the early school of English watercolour artists and in fact has been credited as one of the founders of English watercolor painting. With the exception of a series of paintings completed in Paris just before his death, Girtin’s work is exclusive to English scenery and he played a major part in transforming the reputation of watercolour as a medium.
Girtin was born in London in 1775 and was taught how to draw at a young age by Thomas Malton and then became an apprentice of Edward Dayes, an engraver and topographical watercolourist. His early work was exceptional and it was his topographical and architectural sketches in particular which helped to establish his reputation. In 1794 he had his first exhibition of landscape painting at the London Royal Academy and by 1799, Lady Sutherland and the art collector, Sir George Beaumont were amongst his influential patrons.
He married Mary Ann Borrett, the daughter of a prosperous London Goldsmith, in 1800 and it was also at this time he was working with Turner, copying architectural paintings by Canaletto.
By 1801 he was a regular guest at the country homes of his patrons, such as Mulgrave Castle and Harewood House, and his paintings were commanding substantial fees. However, his health was beginning to fail and as we’ve already cited, in spent the last few months of his life in Paris completing a series of watercolours, “Twenty Views in Paris and its Environs”. His final work was a panorama of London painted in oils, called the “Eidometropolis” which received great acclaim.
Thomas Girtin - Self Portrait - 1799
It was a tragedy when Girtin died in November 1802 at the tender age of 27. His control of this medium was greater than anyone who had come before him, and with his untimely demise, one saw the end of the first phase of English landscape painting. This is particularly brought home by the often quoted remark of J M W Turner, “If Thomas Girtin had lived, I would have starved” and reminds us that whilst he was alive, Girtin was the leader and Turner was the follower.
Categories: European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour Facts.
Tags: english, exhibitions, tate britain, thomas girtin, watercolor, watercolour
