Thomas Medcalf

Thomas Medcalf, Upland Landscape With Track, Watercolour

1898

This late 18th-century gouache by British artist John Inigo Richards RA (1731-1810) depicts a picturesque landscape with track, figures and distant cottages. Immersed in the raucous drama of London’s 18th-century theatre scene, Inigo Richards sought solace in the British countryside. As the principal scene painter at Covent Garden Theatre, his bucolic backdrops brought colour and context to numerous plays featuring leading actors. For inspiration, he’d escape to the delights of rural England...

This early 19th-century watercolour by British artist Paul Sandby Munn RWS (1773-1845) depicts a riverside view at Mallevy in North Wales. Amid a hasty world where technology consumes our waking hours, few of us find the time to consider the subtle beauties of quiet watercolours. Yet, during the late 18th century, when Munn began producing his skillfully-rendered views, this style of drawing was considered an act of rebellion. Indeed, to such an extent that, together with several associates, Munn contributed to one of the most vital artistic circles in British history - the “Brothers” sketching club. Held every Saturday, the sketching club sought to raise the status of landscape watercolours from their lowly position as mere copies of nature. Fellow artists such as John Varley, Thomas Girtin and John Sell Cotman...

This late 18th-century gouache by British artist John Inigo Richards RA (1731-1810) depicts a picturesque landscape with track, figures and distant cottages. Immersed in the raucous drama of London’s 18th-century theatre scene, Inigo Richards sought solace in the British countryside. As the principal scene painter at Covent Garden Theatre, his bucolic backdrops brought colour and context to numerous plays featuring leading actors. For inspiration, he’d escape to the delights of rural England, often sketching in Kent and the home counties. Charming cottages and churches accompany dappled trees and far-reaching views. All brought back to the studio before working up a design. Alongside his ‘day job’, Inigo Richards produced landscapes in watercolour and gouache. His beautifully rendered views capture a pastoral idyll in miniature, each composition rendered with dexterity and fine detail. Note the weight of the figures here, the cattle drover...

This late 19th-century watercolour by Scottish artist John Smart RSA RSW (1838-1899) depicts the grounds of a Scottish mansion in the baronial style. Roote...

This fine late 19th-century watercolour by British artist Harold Sutton Palmer RI RBA (1854-1933) depicts a river view near Dunsford in Surrey. Shimmering between verdant banks, a p...

This late 19th-century watercolour by British artist William Stephen Coleman (1829-1904) depicts an atmospheric coastal view with sunset. As the sun slips surreptitiously beyond the...

Southern Landscape with View of a Castle and Ships passing by Pen and brush in brown and black over pencil, brown and grey wash, 17,5 x 22,7cm Plain black moulding with golden pearl ...

Dutch Watercolour classical building portrait by Tineke Goedhart. The painting is signed and dated bottom left and resigned, dated and located on t...

Neapolitan gouaches appeared in the eighteenth century when tourism in the Naples area was developing: the discoveries of Herculaneum and Pompeii made this city a mandatory stop on the Grand Tour, the journey made by wealthy Europeans to complete their education. Generally small in size for ease of transport and affordable in price, these gouaches were the ideal travel souvenir that these tourists of the early days were bringing back to capture the idyllic landscapes they had discovered during their journey and to share them with family and friends upon their return at home. The Bay of Naples and the eruptions of Vesuvius are the favourite themes of these views. Here we have a view of the Ovo Castle, which was rebuilt on the island of Partenope, in the middle of the Bay of Naples and about a hundred metres from the shore by the Normans in the 12th century on antique ruins...

This very modern drawing presents a view of Ariccia, a small town 25 kilometres south-east of Rome. The Palazzo Chigi (in which the film-maker Luchino Visconti would film a large part of The Leopard a century later) and the adjoining church are seen from the bottom of the ravine that surrounds the town. This drawing is a moving testimony to the attraction of the city for artists of the Romantic period, who established in Ariccia a vivid artists' colony. 1. Achille Bénouville...

Auguste Mayer (1803-1890 A seascape with a boat signed with the initials on the lower left Pencil and heightenings of white gouache on paper 17.5 x 26 cm In fairly good condition, ma...

French School, first half of the 19th century Le Lavoir (The washing place) Watercolor and pencil heightened with white gouache Bears a monogramm R P B on the lower left 21.5 x 33.5 ...