MASTERS OF WATER-
COLOUR PAINTING

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INTRODUCTION

The earliest form of painting was with colours ground in water.
Egyptian artists three thousand years B.C. used this method, and various
mediums, such as wax and mastic, were added as a fixative. It was what
is now known as tempera painting. The Greeks acquired their knowledge of
the art from the Egyptians, and later the Romans dispersed it throughout
Europe. They probably introduced tempera painting into this country for
decoration of the walls of their houses. The English monks visited the
Continent and learnt the art of miniature painting for illuminating
their manuscripts by the same process. Owing to opaque white being mixed
with the colours the term of painting in body-colour came in use.
Painting in this manner was employed by artists throughout Europe in
making sketches for their oil paintings.

Two such drawings by Albrecht Dürer, produced with great freedom in
the early part of the sixteenth century, are in the British Museum. The
Dutch masters also employed the same means. Holbein introduced the
painting of miniature portraits into this country, for although the
monks inserted figures in their illuminations, little attempt was made
in producing likenesses. As early as the middle of the seventeenth
century the term “water colours” came into use. In an inventory, in
manuscript, of the personal estate of Charles I, which was sold by
an Act of Parliament, numerous pictures are thus described.

Wenceslaus Hollar, a native of Prague, came to England in 1637, and
became drawing-master to the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York. The
painting of landscapes was first introduced by him into this country. He
made topographical drawings with a reed pen, and afterwards added slight
local colours. The earliest Englishman known to follow this style was
Francis Barlow. He is principally noted for his drawings with a pen,
slightly tinted, of animals and birds, with landscapes in the
background. Later, Peter Monamy, a marine painter who was born in
Jersey, produced drawings in a similar manner. Early in the eighteenth
century Pieter Tillemans came to England, and painted hunting scenes,
race-horses and country-seats. He worked in a free style in washes of
colour without any outlines with a pen or underlying grey tints. To a
“Natural History of Birds,” by George Edwards, library keeper to the
Royal College of Physicians, published in 1751, is added an appendix,
entitled, “A Brief and General Idea of Drawing and Painting in Water
Colours: Intended for the amusement of the curious rather than the
instruction of artists.” In it he states, “There are two ways of
painting in water colours: one by mixing white with your colours and
laying on a thick body; the other is only washing your paper or vellum
with a thin water tinctured with colour.” After giving details of the
methods to be employed he adds, “the former method of using water
colours is called painting and the other washing or staining.” During
the latter half of the century it became a fashion for landed gentry to
have engravings made of their country seats, and antiquarian
publications with illustrations were produced. These created a demand
for
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topographical draughtsmen to assist the engravers. In the catalogues of
the Exhibitions of the Society of Artists, the first of which was held
in 1760, the drawings by these men are styled as being “stained,”
“tinted,” or “washed.”

The English School of Water-Colour Painting was now firmly
established, and several artists have been claimed to be the “father” of
it. Amongst them were William Tavener, an amateur painter, whose
drawings were never topographically correct, as he exaggerated buildings
to give them a classic appearance; Samuel Scott, a marine painter and
styled the English Canaletto, he was called by Horace Walpole “the first
painter of the age—one whose works will charm any age,” and was
also a friend of Hogarth; also Alexander Cozens, born in Russia and the
reputed son of Peter the Great, but lately it has been suggested that
Richard Cozens, a ship-builder, who went to Russia in 1700, may have
been his father. He was sent to Italy to study art, and afterwards came
to England. He professed to teach amateurs how to produce pictures
without study. Edwards, in his “Anecdotes of Painting,” describes his
process as dashing out a number of accidental large blots and loose
flourishes from which he selected forms and sometimes produced very
grand ideas. Dayes called him “Blotmaster-general to the town.”

The painter, however, who is most generally regarded as being the
father of water-colour painting was Paul Sandby, R.A. He first obtained
employment in the Military Drawing Office of the Tower of London.
Afterwards he resided with his elder brother, Thomas Sandby, at Windsor.
At first he painted in the usual tinted manner of the period, but later
he worked with body-colour, by which manner he added considerable
richness to his drawings. Windsor Castle: View of the Round and
Devil’s Towers from the Black Rock (Plate I) is an admirable example of his latter
method. The drawing has been acquired through the Felton Bequest Fund,
and now hangs in the National Gallery of Victoria. Paul Sandby was for
many years the chief drawing-master at the Royal Military Academy at
Woolwich. He was also appointed by George III to give instruction in
drawing to his sons.

The work of Francis Towne has only of recent years come to be
appreciated. He belonged to a Devonshire family, but the exact place of
his birth is not known. He became a friend of William Pars, A.R.A., from
whom he received some instruction in drawing, and also went with him to
Rome in 1780. Although he spent considerable time on the Continent,
numerous drawings by him exist of scenes in his native country. On
the Dart (Plate II) is a good example of
his delicate method of painting. His special skill lay “in the
management of even pen-line and in a subtle modulation of colour upon a
flat surface.”

Amongst the early topographical men was Michael (Angelo) Rooker,
A.R.A. The additional Christian name is said to have been given to him
by Paul Sandby, under whom he studied for some time. He made pedestrian
tours through England, and executed a large number of drawings, which
are remarkable for their accuracy and delicate treatment, such as the
Village Scene (Plate III).

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Thomas Hearne was a contemporary with Rooker. It was a custom at this
period for topographical artists to travel abroad with British Embassies
to foreign countries and with Governors to Colonial possessions.
Photography had not yet been invented, and the drawings by these artists
were the only means by which the majority of inhabitants of this island
were able to obtain some idea of places beyond the sea. Hearne went to
the Leeward Isles, as draughtsman to the Governor, and produced records
of the scenery there. Afterwards he executed a number of drawings in
this country, some of which were engraved in “Antiquities of Great
Britain.” View of Gloucester (Plate IV)
is an example of his accurate drawing, though somewhat weak in
colouring. Joseph Farington, R.A., received instruction in drawing from
Wilson, and his paintings show slight evidence of it, as may be seen
from the Scotch Landscape (Plate V),
but he simply copied Nature without enduing his work with any of his
master’s poetic reeling. Thomas Malton, Junr., was noted for the
accuracy with which he drew architectural views, many of them being
street scenes in London, and they are of considerable value as records.
Old Palace Yard, Westminster (Plate VI)
is interesting as showing buildings on the north side of Henry VII’s
Chapel of the Abbey, which have long since been demolished. He published
works aquatinted by himself, including Westminster, which
appeared in 1792. He held classes at which Girtin and Turner attended.
The latter used to say, “My early master was Tom Malton.” Edward Dayes
was a versatile artist; he painted architectural subjects, into which he
frequently introduced figures, such as Furness Abbey (Plate VII), executed miniatures and engraved in
mezzotint. He also wrote several works on art. Buckingham House, St.
James’s Park, in which a number of the beau monde are seen
promenading in the park, is one of his best paintings. An engraving of
it by F. D. Soiron, produced in 1793, under the title of
Promenade in St. James’s Park, was very popular.

Francis Wheatley, R.A., was a topographical artist, but is better
known as a painter of genre subjects, especially by the
engravings after “The Cries of London.” Preparing for Market (Plate VIII) is a good example of his latter
work, which was somewhat insipid.

The reputation of Thomas Rowlandson, who could paint landscapes with
great ability, rests upon his caricatures, which were usually drawn in
outline and tinted. He lived a somewhat dissipated life, and possessed
an abundant sense of humour, as displayed in the Entrance to Vauxhall
Gardens (Plate IX), the noted place of
amusement and rendezvous of the fashionable set in the early part of the
last century.

John Robert Cozens, the son of Alexander Cozens, was the first artist
at this period “to break away from the trammels of topography, and to
raise landscape painting in water colours to a branch of fine art.” He
travelled abroad and studied principally in Italy and Switzerland. The
lake of Nemi, situated in the Campagna, some sixteen miles west of Rome,
and reached by the famous Via Appia, has always been a favourite subject
with both poets and artists. Near the north rim of the
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worn-out crater, in which the lake is situated, is the village of Nemi,
surmounted by a fine old castle, which passed through the hands of many
noble families. Pope, Byron, and others have sung the praises of the
lake. Turner has left at least five drawings of it, one of which is
engraved in Hakewell’s “Italy.” William Pars, Richard Wilson and other
artists of the early landscape school also painted the scene. Cozens
made many drawings of Nemi and the vicinity. Two are in the Victoria and
Albert Museum and another is in the Whitworth Institute, Manchester. The
painting (Plate X), belonging to Mr.
R. W. Lloyd, shows the lake with Palazzo Cesarini on a height by
its side, and the Campagna in the distance. It is a fine example of
Cozens’ work treated in his poetic manner, and into which more colour
than usual has been introduced. Cozens’ last visit to Italy was made in
1782 in company with the noted William Beckford, the author of “Vathek.”
On his return he gradually lost his reason. It is pathetic to think such
was the sad end of a man inspired with such artistic talents. As it has
already been stated, he was the pioneer in exalting water-colour
painting to a fine art. His footsteps were quickly followed by Girtin
and Turner. The history of these two artists, how during their early
struggles they were befriended by that art patron, Dr. Thomas Monro, a
capable water-colour painter himself, and well qualified to give advice,
is too well known to need repetition.

Girtin, during his short career, had no selfish ideas of keeping his
knowledge of painting to himself. It was mainly due to his initiation
that a club was started amongst a small body of young artists for the
study of landscape painting. They met at each other’s houses in
rotation. One of its prominent members was Sir Robert Ker Porter, a
painter, traveller and author, who afterwards married a Russian
princess. He was living, at the time, at 16, Great Newport Street, which
had formerly been a residence of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and subsequently
that of Dr. Samuel Johnson. It was in this house that the first meeting
of the club was held “for the purpose of establishing by practice a
School of Historic Landscape, the subjects being designs from poetick
passages.” Writing in The Somerset House Gazette, in 1823,
W. H. Pyne, under the pseudonym of Ephraim Hardcastle, states “this artist
(Girtin) prepared his drawings on the same principle which had hitherto
been confined to painting in oil, namely, with local colour, and
shadowing the same with the individual tint of its own shadow. Previous
to the practice of Turner and Girtin, drawings were shadowed first
entirely throughout, whatever their component parts—houses,
castles, trees, mountains, fore-grounds, middle-grounds, and distances,
all with black or grey, and these objects were afterwards stained or
tinted, enriched and finished, as is now the custom to colour prints. It
was this new practice, introduced by these distinguished artists, that
acquired for designs in water colour upon paper the title of paintings:
a designation which many works of the existing school decidedly merit,
as we lately beheld in the Exhibition of the Painters in Water Colours,
where pictures of this class were displayed in gorgeous frames, bearing
out in effect against the mass of glittering gold as powerfully as
pictures in oil.” Girtin had a partiality for
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painting in a low tone of colour and frequently on rough cartridge
paper, which assisted in giving a largeness of manner to his work. The
Landscape (Plate XI) is, however,
rendered in a brighter key than his usual practice.

As limitation of space will not admit of giving any account of the
life of Turner, already well known, it may be sufficient to say that
Lucerne: Moonlight (Plate XII) was
painted in 1843, and was originally in the collection of Mr.
H. A. J. Munro of Novar. Ruskin, who calls it a noble drawing
in his “Notes on his Drawings by the late J. M. W. Turner,”
makes a mistake in the title and describes it as Zurich by
Moonlight. John Sell Cotman, a member of the Norwich School, was
another pioneer who did much for the advancement of water-colour
painting. Unfortunately, his work was not appreciated during his career.
If he had lived in the twentieth century he would have had no cause for
the fits of depression to which he was subject during the greater part
of life. It can be well recognised that in the first half of last
century the public, who were mainly accustomed to carefully drawn
topographical scenes, failed to appreciate such paintings as the
Classical Scene (Plate XIII), executed
with such freedom and vigour. It was recently exhibited at the Special
Exhibition of Cotman’s Paintings at the Tate Gallery, when five other
classical landscape compositions were also shown. Cotman’s work was not
understood. His paintings, both in oil and water colour, often only
realised less than a pound apiece. He was compelled to resort to
teaching in order to support his family. Eventually, through the
influence of his friend, Lady Palgrave, and the strong support of
Turner, he obtained the post of drawing-master at King’s College School,
London. His position then became more secure. Still, teaching boys in
the underground rooms of Somerset House could not have been inspiriting
to one who yearned to seek Nature in the open air. He could not exclaim,
like “Old” Crome, when he with his pupils was once met on the banks of
the Yare, “This is our academy.” He died of a broken heart. At the
beginning of the nineteenth century there was a feeling amongst the
artists who worked solely in water colours that they were not being
fairly treated by the Royal Academy. They were ineligible to be elected
members of that body, and they were of opinion that their works were
never placed in a prominent position on the walls of the galleries.
William Frederick Wells, a friend of Turner and said to have suggested
to him the idea of producing his “Liber Studiorum,” proposed to his
fellow artists that they should form a separate society for the
promotion of water-colour painting. After considerable negotiations, ten
artists met together in November, 1804, and founded the Society of
Painters in Water Colours. The first exhibition was held in the Spring
of the following year at rooms in Lower Brook Street. After various
vicissitudes and many changes of abode this society, known in later
years as the “Old” Society, eventually obtained a lease of the premises
in Pall Mall East. Thus, after much roving for seventeen years, a
permanent home was secured, and the centenary of the occupation of these
galleries has just been completed. Varley and Glover were two of the
original members.
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De Wint, Copley Fielding, David Cox and Samuel Prout were subsequently
elected Associates, and afterwards became full members.

Amongst the founders the name of John Varley stands out beyond the
others. He was born at Hackney (see Plate XIV)
in 1778. Receiving but little instruction in art besides the assistance
given to him by Dr. Monro, he became a teacher of considerable
reputation. Amongst his pupils were many who afterwards became famous.
To mention only a few, there were William Mulready, who married his
sister, Copley Fielding, who espoused his wife’s sister, W. Turner
(of Oxford), David Cox, William H. Hunt, Oliver Finch and John Linnell.
Varley was a prolific worker, and contributed more than seven hundred
drawings to the “Old” Society, averaging about forty works annually. His
style was broad and simple, with tints beautifully laid, without resort
to stippling. He wrote some works on drawing and perspective. He also
was an enthusiast in astrology, and compiled a “Treatise on Zodiacal
Physiognomy.” John Glover was a landscape painter and produced works,
both in oil and in water colours, into which he frequently introduced
cattle. His father having been a small farmer may account for this
partiality for animals. In water-colour painting he followed the methods
of William Payne, the inventor of a grey tint known as Payne’s grey, in
producing foliage by splitting the hairs of his brush in order to give a
feeling of lightness, and he was partial to sunlight effects (see
Plate XV). He was President of the “Old” Society
on two occasions, but he resigned his membership, so as to become
eligible for election to the Royal Academy. He failed in his object and
joined the Society of British Artists. Glover suddenly left England in
1831, and went to the Swan River Settlement in Australia. Afterwards he
removed to Tasmania, where he died.

Peter De Wint, a descendant of an old merchant family of Amsterdam,
like Glover, painted in oils and water colours, but his work was far
superior. He selected broad and open country for his scenes, which were
executed in a rich tone with a tendency to heavy uniform green. The
neighbourhood of Lincoln, where his wife, a sister of W. Hilton,
R.A., was born, had special attractions to him. St. Albans (Plate XVI) shows the abbey in the ruinous state
it had become from the time of the Reformation. Its restoration was not
commenced until 1856, under the direction of Sir Gilbert Scott, and
completed later by Lord Grimthorpe. Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding
belonged to an artistic family. His father was a painter and three of
his brothers all practised art with success. He was one of the most
fashionable drawing-masters of his day, and a strong supporter of the
“Old” Society. After being treasurer and next secretary, he was
appointed president in 1831, which post he retained during his life. He
was a most prolific worker and contributed about seventeen hundred
drawings to the Society’s exhibitions, besides showing at the Royal
Academy and Royal Institution. At first his favourite subjects were lake
and mountain scenery (see Plate XVII). After
he took up his residence at Brighton he turned his attention to marine
painting and depicted many storms at sea. It has been exaggeratedly said
that Copley Fielding was “perhaps the greatest artist after Turner for
representations
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of breadth and atmosphere.” Ruskin also praised his work. Owing,
however, to his very rapid method of execution there was a considerable
sameness in his work.

The drawings by David Cox, although executed in an apparently
careless manner, give a greater rendering of atmospheric qualities and
of irradiation of light with a feeling of more movement than can be
found in the works of Fielding. Cox’s early drawings were executed in a
somewhat stiff and restrained manner, with a delicate finish, but
afterwards his style became broad and he produced those breezy effects
which are almost unrivalled. Boys Fishing (Plate XVIII) is an excellent example of his later
work. When Cox returned to his native town, Birmingham, he devoted his
attention to working in oils, and the City Art Gallery possesses a
superb collection of his paintings in this medium. He was for the
greater part of his life a teacher of drawing, and he published a
“Treatise on Landscape Painting and Effect in Water Colours,” in which
his views are clearly stated.*

Samuel Prout, one of the numerous Devonshire painters, also derived a
great part of his income by giving instruction in drawing and painting.
Numerous drawing copies for students were produced by him by means of
soft-ground etching. He was at first employed by John Britton, the
author of “The Beauties of England and Wales,” in making topographical
drawings for this work. In 1819 he went to Normandy for the benefit of
his health. There he turned his attention to producing those paintings
of cathedrals and picturesque buildings for which he is noted. Later he
travelled through Germany and Switzerland to Italy, and visited Rome and
Venice (see Plate XIX). Afterwards he
published facsimiles of many of the drawings executed during these tours
on the Continent. They were produced in lithography by himself on the
stone, an art in which he greatly excelled. The architectural drawings
by Prout are remarkable for their picturesque treatment, rather than for
correctness of construction. Details are sparsely indicated by the use
of a reed pen. Bright effects of light and shade are, however, given,
and the introduction of groups of figures add brilliancy to these
paintings.

James Duffield Harding, like Prout, from whom he received some
lessons, also excelled in lithography. Many of his paintings were
reproduced by him in a publication entitled “Sketches at Home and
Abroad.” He visited Italy on two occasions. Vico, in the Bay of
Naples, between Castellamare and Sorrento (Plate XX), is an example of his free manner of painting.
An engraving of it appeared in the “Landscape Annual” in 1832. He was a
member of the “Old” Society, and also painted in oils. William Henry
Hunt, familiarly called “Old” or “Billy” Hunt in his latter years by his
fellow artists, to distinguish him from William Holman Hunt, was an
artist with a style peculiar to himself. He painted figures, especially
young rustics, with a sense of humour, but he is chiefly noted for his
exquisite fruit and flower pieces, which were executed with great
delicacy and with a remarkable power of rendering the effects of light
and shade on the surface of the objects. To obtain these he would
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roughly pencil out, say, a group of plums, and thickly coat each one
with Chinese white, which would be left to harden. On this ground he
afterwards painted his colours with a sure hand. By this means he would
obtain a brilliant effect. Further, to enhance it, he would make free
use of the knife on the various surroundings to give a contrast, and at
the same time to produce a feeling of texture on the various surfaces,
so as not to have a monotonous and flat appearance. This method of
scraping up portions of the surface of the paper is clearly shown in
Plucking the Fowl (Plate XXI).

James Holland commenced his artistic career by painting flowers on
pottery at the factory of James Davenport at Burslem. He came to London
and continued to paint flowers. After a visit to Paris he devoted
himself to landscapes. Subsequently he visited Venice, and produced, in
both oils and water colours, some excellent paintings remarkable for
their brilliant colouring (see Plate
XXII).

James Baker Pyne, born at Bristol, was a self-taught artist. He also
is noted for his brilliant colouring, but there is a want of solidity in
his painting. He visited the Continent and travelled as far as Italy
(see Plate XXIII). His landscapes were
chiefly river and lake subjects. He published “The English Lake
District” and “The Lake Scenery of England,” illustrated with
lithographs of his works. He was a member of the Society of British
Artists, and became a vice-president. Like Girtin, the illustrious young
painter Richard Parkes Bonington was cut off in life at the early age of
twenty-seven. He was born at Arnold, near Nottingham. Whilst still a boy
he was taken by his parents to Calais, where he received some
instruction in water colours from Francia. Later the family settled in
Paris. Here Bonington resided the greater part of his life. He made a
few visits to England, and on the last occasion he was taken ill and
died of consumption. He practised at the Louvre and the Institut,
and also received instruction from Baron Gros. His paintings, in oil and
water colours, were almost entirely executed in France; he, however,
made one visit to Italy. In Paris his works were chiefly architectural
with street scenes, admirably executed, whilst his landscapes with fine
atmospheric effects (see Plate XXIV) display
great freedom in execution. It is somewhat remarkable that after Cotman
and Bonington had, in the first part of the nineteenth century,
developed a style so greatly appreciated at the present time, so many of
the landscape painters in water colours in the early Victorian era
should still have adhered to the old restricted methods. Constable
exercised considerable influence on the French landscape painting in
oil, whilst Bonington showed the French artists the capabilities of
water colours, which they did not fail to appreciate.

H. M. Cundall.

*
The “Treatise” has recently been republished as the Special Autumn
Number of The Studio.