Items Similar to The Old Ruined Tower, Watercolour Early 19th Century, Period Frame
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 3
John VarleyThe Old Ruined Tower, Watercolour Early 19th Century, Period Frame
About the Item
Watercolour on paper
Image size: 4 x 5 inches (10 x 12.75 cm)
Period gilt frame
The Artist
John Varley (17 August 1778 – 17 November 1842) was an English watercolour painter and astrologer, and a close friend of William Blake. They collaborated in 1819–1820 on the book Visionary Heads, written by Varley and illustrated by Blake. He was the elder brother of a family of artists: Cornelius Varley, William Fleetwood Varley, and Elizabeth, who married the painter William Mulready.
John Varley was born at the Old Blue Post Tavern, Hackney, on 17 August 1778. His father, Richard Varley, born at Epworth in Lincolnshire, had settled in London after the death of his first wife in Yorkshire. His mother was an alleged descendant of the regicide Oliver Cromwell through the marriage of his daughter, Bridget, and the Parliamentarian soldier and politician General Charles Fleetwood. Varley's parents discouraged his leanings towards art, and placed him under a silversmith. But on their death he was for a brief time employed by a portrait painter in Holborn and then, at the age of 15 or 16, he became a pupil of Joseph Charles Barrow (fl. 1789–1802) who had an evening drawing school twice a week at 12 Furnival's Inn Court, Holborn. It was Barrow who took Varley on a sketching tour to Peterborough from which he emerged as a professional painter. 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.
In 1799 he visited North Wales, and in its wild mountain scenery found the subjects best suited to his brush. He returned there in 1800, and again in 1802, and the impressions then received powerfully influenced the whole course of his art.
Varley exhibited more than 700 works at the OWS, of which he was one of the founders. He also became a highly successful drawing master, his pupils including Copley Fielding, David Cox, John Linnell and William Turner (artist) of Oxford. Despite his success, his growing family meant he was constantly in financial difficulties, "since he was both a hopeless businessman and by temperament something of a Micawber". (Mallalieu). Varley was particularly skilled at the laying of flat washes of watercolour which suited the placid, contemplative mood that he often sought to evoke.
Varley published A Treatise on the Principles of Landscape Drawing, 1816–21 and A Practical Treatise on the Art of Drawing in Perspective. He also wrote an astrological text (with illustrations) entitled A Treatise on Zodiacal Physiognomy in 1828.
He is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.
- Creator:John Varley (1778-1842, British)
- Dimensions:Height: 5 in (12.7 cm)Width: 4 in (10.16 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU52412523952
About the Seller
5.0
Gold Seller
These expertly vetted sellers are highly rated and consistently exceed customer expectations.
Established in 2007
1stDibs seller since 2014
64 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 4 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: London, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- Kingston BridgeBy Horace Mann LivensLocated in London, GBWatercolour and gouache on paper, signed and dated '09 bottom left Image size: 11 x 10.5 inches (28 x 27 cm) Hand made contemporary frame Painted on his characteristic dark backgrou...Category
Early 20th Century Victorian Landscape Paintings
MaterialsPaper, Watercolor, Gouache
- Country Byways, Original Artwork for Advertisement, 20th Century EnglishLocated in London, GBGouache on paper, signed lower left Image size: 17 x 21 inches (43 x 53 1/2 cm) Contemporary gilded oak frame Charles Henry Collins Baker was an English painter and art historian. Baker was born in Ilminster, Somerset, the son of John Collins Baker and Fanny Henrietta Remmet. He was educated in Berkhamsted and the Royal Academy Schools. A landscape painter at the beginning of his career, he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1907 and at the New English Art Club in 1909–16; from 1921 to 1925 he was the club's honorary secretary. In 1911 he became the art critic...Category
Early 20th Century Landscape Paintings
MaterialsPaper, Gouache
- Dorking, Southern RailwayBy Gerald Mac SpinkLocated in London, GBGouache Image size: 5 x 4 inches (13 x 10 cm) Acid free mount and oak frame As well as being an accomplished artist and illustrator, Gerald Spink worked an aeronautical engineer for Hawker Engineering in Kingston-on-Thames. He designed artwork for a number of travel and advertising posters, for such clients as Southern Railways...Category
1920s Art Deco Landscape Paintings
MaterialsGouache
- View of St Paul's Across the Thames, Early 20th Century WatercolourBy Karl HagedornLocated in London, GBWatercolour and pencil, signed and dated 19 '30' bottom right Image size: 21 x 14 1/2 inches (53 x 37 cm) Contemporary frame This is a wonderfully lively watercolour scene of London...Category
Early 20th Century Modern Landscape Paintings
MaterialsGraphite, Watercolor
- Damascus Orientalist Watercolour 19th CenturyBy Colonel BartonLocated in London, GBCOLONEL BARTON Early 19th Century Damascus Watercolour & bodycolour, signed & inscribed & dated 1847 lower right Image size: 9 ½ x 13 inches (24 x 33 cm)Category
19th Century Landscape Paintings
MaterialsWatercolor
- HARROW SCHOOL, Art-Deco 20th Century Signed Oil and GouacheBy Norman WilkinsonLocated in London, GBNorman Wilkinson CBE PRI 1878 – 1971 HARROW SCHOOL Oil and gouache on paper, signed lower right Image size: 30 × 45 inches (76 × 114 cm) Original frame Provenance Commissioned by L...Category
20th Century Art Deco Landscape Paintings
MaterialsOil, Paper, Gouache
You May Also Like
- Meneses coast original watercolor paper expressionist paintingBy Josep MenesesLocated in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FLcoast original watercolor paper expressionist painting. This Catalan painter, settled for years in Mallorca, offers a series of landscapes in which the natural is treated in the imp...Category
1990s Expressionist Landscape Paintings
MaterialsWatercolor, Handmade Paper
- Roman Countryside - Mixed Media by E. Gioja - 1908By Edoardo GiojaLocated in Roma, ITRoman Countryside is an original modern artwork realized in 1908 by Edoardo Gioja. Mixed media. Hand signed and dated on the lower right margin. Includes frame. Edoardo Gioia (Rome, 1862 - Rome, 1937), an Italian painter and artist. He treated the decoration and portrait with Pre-Raphaelite taste. Influenced by Nino Costa, he repudiated genre painting by reproducing marines, countries, plants, animals and painted and drew with simplicity and with very effective results. He decorated several rooms in London and prepared cartoons for stained glass...Category
Early 1900s Modern Landscape Paintings
MaterialsTempera, Watercolor
- Sicilian Landscape with Aetna on the Background - Gouache - Early 20th CenturyLocated in Roma, ITSicilian Landscape with Aetna on the Background is an original Gouache on paper, realized by Anonymous Artist of the early 20th Century. In very go...Category
Early 20th Century Modern Landscape Paintings
MaterialsGouache
- View of the Gulf of Naples, with Vesuvius on the background-Gouache-19th CenturyLocated in Roma, ITView of the Gulf of Naples, with Vesuvius on the background is an original modern artwork realized by Anonymous artist in the mid-19th Century. Mixed colored gouche. Includes a bla...Category
19th Century Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsGouache
- "Andromeda" Large Scale Watercolor Galaxy painting by Thomas BroadbentBy Thomas BroadbentLocated in New York, NYAt over 11 feet in length, Broadbent’s “Andromeda” galaxy watercolor painting captures the spectacle and wonder one feels when looking at the stars in the night sky. In this large sc...Category
2010s Contemporary Landscape Paintings
MaterialsWatercolor, Archival Paper
- "Moon Arc", Multi-panel black and white watercolor painting installationBy Thomas BroadbentLocated in New York, NY87"x149" multi-panel installation. This watercolor painting installation is created on 36 paper panels and is inspired by a view of the moon. The dee...Category
2010s Contemporary Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsWatercolor, Archival Paper
Recently Viewed
View AllMore Ways To Browse
Period Frames
Antique Period Frames
12 X 10 Framed
August John
Oxford Frames
Antique Tower
Blue Tower
Frame 15x17
John Richard Framed
Old Paintings 17 Century
Elizabeth Olds
Blue John Antique
Old Master Sketch
Old Master Sketches
English Blue John
Landscape Painting With Soldiers
The Antique Inn
19th Century Soldier Painting