Romantic Art

Elizabeth Chalmers Lady Cottage in Nottgrove Watercolour on paper Size: H 21 x W 30cm Signed by the artist Please note that insitu images are purely an indication of how a piece may...

Franz Bergmann, Austrian (1861 -1936) - Arab Man with Three Monkeys, Year: circa 1900, Medium: Bronze sculpture, Austria inscribed on base, Size: 3.5 x 6.5 x 5 in. (8.89 x 16.51 x...

Ebb & Flow 3 by Ellie Davies is a Digital C-Type Print on Fuji Maxima Matte Paper Ebb & Flow 3 is available in this size of 67.5cm x 90cm from a Limited Edition of 7 + 2 Artist Pr...

Ebb & Flow 2 by Ellie Davies is a Digital C-Type Print on Fuji Maxima Matte Paper Ebb & Flow 2 is available in this size of 67.5cm x 90cm from a Limited Edition of 7 + 2 Artist Pr...

French school of the 19th century Monks excavate and find ancient relics Oil on canvas Not signed 56 x 46.5 cm (68 x 57.5 cm with the frame) Beautiful period frame in gilded wood Goo...

Contemporary figurative oil on canvas painting by Polish artist Katarzyna Szydlowska. Painting pictures female in nude. She is sitting on the beach, there is sea and cliff behind her...

SALE ONE WEEK ONLY "The Rev. and Mrs. E. H. Cumpston" a silhouette cut by August Edouart is in very good condition and cut by the artist sometime between 1839 - 1849. On the lower f...

"Hyde Park on Sunday" - Hand Colored Etching from "Old and New London" Detailed etching of a typical Sunday in Hyde Park around 1800 after an etching by Ed...

Attributed to Friedrich Voltz (1817–1886) – Bucolic Cattle Scene Artist: Attributed to Friedrich Voltz Period: 19th Century Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: Framed: 35 x 40 cm Artw...

Edouard FEREY (middle of the 19th century) Oil on wood panel 19 x 35 cm (34 x 40 cm with the frame) Signed lower right "E. Ferey" Nice 19th century frame in gilded wood

Artist: Alvar Sunol Munoz-Ramos (Spanish, born 1935) Title: From Barcelona Suite Year: 1979 Medium: Color lithograph with embossing Edition: Numbered 1...

Antique Horse Bronze Exceptional Bronze of a Draft Horse Pierre Jules Mêne (French, 1810-1879) Circa 1860s 4 3/4 (W) x 3.25 (H) As Mêne personally ov...

Balantine books Signed lower right. Robert Berran has been a prolific romance and historical book cover illustrator since the 1970s.

Charles Lock Eastlake, After by Charles William Sharpe, British (1793 - 1865) - Pilgrims in Sight of Rome, Portfolio: New Gallery of British Art, Year: 1882, Medium: Engraving, I...

Robert Alexander Hillingford, After by George Greatbach, English (1828 - 1904) - The White Cockade, Portfolio: New Gallery of British Art, Year: 1882, Medium: Engraving, Image Siz...

Robert Carrick, After by Edward Paxman Brandard, Scottish (1829 - 1904) - In The Highlands, Portfolio: New Gallery of British Art, Year: 1882, Medium: Engraving, Image Size: 5.5 ...

Color offset lithograph Made for an exhibition at the Galerie Maeght Paris, 12 April - 20 May 1983. Image in great condition, marginal defects

Rare Collectible by Bengal School Artist Artist : Dipen Bose Medium : Watercolours on paper Size : 7.5 x 5 inches Paintings on both sides of the paper. Extraordinary and Unique. Here the master artist shows very subtly the command he has over the brush. The dramatic effect that Monotone watercolours created, to play and tantalise all of our senses. Effortlessly executed, one cannot miss the expertise and uniqueness in the works. Even the less dense watercolours, speaks to its viewers. Its never been easier to connect with watercolours and its essence. Bengal Master Artist Dipen Bose (1921-1964)  Born in Calcutta, West Bengal. Education : Self-taught artist with no academic training in art. 1942 Completed Graduation, Calcutta. Grandfather, Nagendra Bose inspired him to start painting. Learnt the technique of oil painting from artist Debi Prasad Roychowdhury. 1947 Started to paint after giving up his job at Central Excise Service, Calcutta. His association with the Indian Institute of Art and Industry and Indian Society of Oriental Art played a vital role in his life. He was close to Indra Dugar. Associated with Art in Industry and Rachana till 1952. These associations inspired him towards traditional Indian Art, French Impressionism and Chinese Art. 1953 His painting was presented to the President, Federal Republic of Germany by Govt. of India. Dipen Bose Wrote articles on art in newspapers and journals. Style : For inspiration and evolving a personal style, Dipen looked at part of the history of art that seemed useful- Jain and Kangra painting...

Stunning still life titled “Fleurs d’automne” (“Autumn Flowers”) by French artist Marthe Danard Puig. In the center, a slender, cylindrical vase filled with chrysanthemums, most of t...

Embroidered Fruit Still Life A beautiful embroidery of a colorful grape vine with rich colors of red, purple and blue. Signed "E. P. S. F." lower right. Presented in a new mat and g...

Peter Schlemihl’s Wundersame Geschichte is an original modern rare book written by Adelbert von Chamisso (Châlons-en-Champagne,1781 – Berlin, 1838) and illustrated by George Cruikshank (London, 1792 - London, 1878) in 1827. Published by Leonhard Schrag, Nürnberg. Original First Edition. Format: in 12°. The book includes 213 pages with Six full page Etchings and one Frontispiece. Mint conditions. George Cruikshank (London, 1792 - London, 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend di lui Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience. For Charles Dickens, Cruikshank illustrated Sketches by Boz...

This artwork titled "Waterloo Volunteers" from the suite "History of England" is an original color etching by British artist Graham Clarke, b.1941. ...

A gorgeous solid bronze on marble pedestal depicting a demure young woman observing something that appears to be just in front of her. Is she a bit timid, perhaps? A lovely patina ha...

Sorry for the reflections on the glass - I did not want to disassemble the ornate antique gold frame in order to photograph the art. At any rate - this is a beautifully accomplished turn-of-the-century watercolor by the American painter Frank English...

A bronze sculpture by Allan Clark originally casted in 1927. A nude figure sculpture of Parvati, the Hindu goddess of love. Artist: Allan Clark (after), American (1896 - 1950) T...

Italian sculptor (19th century) - Reclining girl. 32 x 12 x h 9 cm. Full-round figure in carved alabaster. The sculpture depicts a young female nude reclining on a cushion, partia...

Franz Bergmann, Austrian (1861 -1936) - Slave Trader, Year: circa 1900, Medium: Bronze sculpture on wooden base, Size: 5.25 x 3 x 3 in. (13.34 x 7.62 x 7.62 cm), Description: "Re...

In the mid-nineteenth century, the United States government set out to survey and document its newly acquired lands and territories west of the Mississippi. The goals of these surveys were manifold: to produce topographical maps, to document flora and fauna, and to document natural resources to build the emerging US economy. These surveys, and the images from them, also functioned to build the new sense of American identity with the landscape, condensing vistas into the 'picturesque' tradition of European image making. Thus, the entire span of US territory could be seen as a single, cohesive whole. This lithograph comes from one of six surveys commissioned by the Army's Topographic Bureau in 1853, which sought to find the best route to construct a transcontinental railroad. The result was a thirteen-volume report including maps, lithographs, and technical data entitled 'Explorations and Surveys to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a Railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific Ocean.' When it came to depicting the Assiniboine people, as seen in the present print, Stanley chose to juxtapose their encampment, marked by tipis in the distance, with the encampment of the Isaac Stevens survey party. In the foreground, commemorating this moment, Isaac Stevens can be seen presenting trade goods, which are known to include thirty two dressed skins and two robes. The survey leader Isaac Stevens noted being grateful for the generosity of the Assiniboine, commenting: "I felt very grateful indeed to those Indians, for their kindness to my men, their proffer of kind feeling and hospitality to myself and the survey." This description and this image, however, are arguably depicted through rose-colored glasses: to the Assiniboine people, this meeting may well have included stressful diplomatic relationships and have indicated a threat to the sovereignty over the territories agreed to be theirs by the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. 5.75 x 8.75 inches, image 6.5 x 9.25 inches, stone 17 x 19.75 inches, frame Artist 'Stanley Del.' lower left Entitled 'Distribution of Goods to the Assiniboines' lower center margin Publisher 'Sarony, Major & Knapp. Lith.s 449 Broadway N.Y.' lower right Inscribed 'U.S.P.R.R. EXP. & SURVEYS — 47th & 49th PARALLELS' upper left Inscribed 'GENERAL REPORT — PLATE XIV' upper right Framed to conservation standards using 100 percent rag matting with French accents; glazed with UV5 Plexiglas to inhibit fading; housed in a gold reverse ogee moulding. Print in overall good condition; some localized foxing and discoloration; frame in excellent condition. John Mix Stanley...

This artwork titled "Strawberies" 1990 is a color off set lithograph by British/American artist Pati Bannister, 1929-2013. It is hand signed, titled and numbered 45/485 in pencil by ...

Bernard Blommers 1845 – The Hague – 1914 Dutch Painter 'First Steps' Signature: signed lower right 'B/Blommers' Medium: oil on canvas, ca. 1865 Dimensions: image size 56,5 x 76,5 c...

Rue de la Paix, Paris - Hand Colored Lithograph 1845-1860 Delicate hand-colored lithograph of Rue de la Paix Palace in Paris, France printed by Rose-Joseph Lemercier (French, 1803 - 1887). Published, Paris 1843 to 1867 by Hautecoeur Freres (Eugène and Alfred Hautecoeur (French). After Charles Riviere...

Léonie POISSON (XIX) Black chalk and white chalk 56 x 45 cm (66 x 55 cm with frame) Signed and dated lower right "Léonie Poisson / Août 1845"

Rizaldy Celi Jr. (American, Filipino-Vietnamese, born 1983) "Detriment of Romance" 2025 Oil Paint, Canvas, Stretcher Bars The artist signed the side and back of the painting. We ship...

Still Life With Wagtails. 2011. Oil on linen, 40X45 cm

Alexis DALIGE de FONTENAY Paris, 1813 - Paris, 1892 Storm at Etretat Watercolor on paper 24 x 32 cm (40 x 48 cm with frame) Signed lower right "Ais de Fontenay" Very good condition ...

Pompeo Massani 1850 – Florence – 1920 Italian Painter 'Three Generations' Signature: signed lower left and inscribed Firenze 'P. Massani Firenze' Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: ...

Margaret Maitland Howard. English ( b.1898 - d.1983 ). Pan, God Of Nature, Playing Panpipes. Oil On Canvas. Signed Lower Left. Image size 22.6 inches x 18.1 inches ( 57.5cm x 46cm ). Frame size 26.8 inches x 22.2 inches ( 68cm x 56.5cm ). Available for sale; this original oil painting is by the English artist Margaret Maitland Howard and dates from the 1930s. The painting is presented and supplied in a sympathetic contemporary frame (which is shown in these photographs), mounted with new fixtures. The canvas has been lined and mounted on a newly constructed custom made stretcher. The painted surface has benefitted from cleaning and conservation, all of which was performed on our instruction, supervision and approval. This vintage painting is now in very good condition. It wants for nothing and is supplied ready to hang and display. The painting is signed lower left. Margaret Maitland Howard was an accomplished and versatile English artist whose works spanned the early to mid-20th century. Known for her evocative and often mythologically inspired oil paintings, Howard’s work reflects a deep engagement with classical themes and her knowledge of nature, and the human form. She was also proficient working in watercolours and pastels and an accomplished sculptor. Margaret, who was always known as “Marjorie” was born in Friern, Barnet, London on 31 July 1898, the daughter of artist and civil servant Henry James Howard. She grew up at Sutton, Surrey, where she spent most of her life. She spent many years living and working from St. Katherine’s, Malgrave Road, Sutton, Surrey. She was educated privately, at the Byam Shaw and then attended the Vicat Cole School of Art, completing her studies at the Royal Academy Schools, where she won five silver medals and other awards. She was also the recipient of a British Institute scholarship and extension and won the 1926 prize for her portrait work at the National Welsh Eisteddfod in Swansea. She exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy, showing at least ten works of classical and biblical themes at Summer Exhibitions between 1923 and 1935. She was one of the early group of women who painted nudes, a practice which was considered somewhat risqué and vulgar in the early twentieth century. She also exhibited at other leading galleries and in the provinces and consistently pursued her art despite the challenges posed by the societal norms of the time. Howard had a significant professional career for a woman of her generation. Just after World War II she was appointed draughtsman to the Institute of Archaeology at London University where she worked from 1948 to 1960. This is now part of University College, London. Here, she worked as an illustrator and sculptor, creating models for Professor Frederick Zeuner to use in his lectures. She also illustrated one of his important books (Zeuner, F.E. Dating the Past, London: Methuen). She also created the bust of Gordon Childe, now in the Institute’s Library. After her retirement from the Institute of Archaeology she collaborated with Ian Wolfran Cornwall on his series of books about the prehistoric world. In 1956, whilst working for the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, she moved to Balawat and supervised the archaeological work at the site of an ancient Assyrian city in northern Mesopotamia. She subsequently prepared drawings of the Balawat Gates, which was significant and technical work. In addition to illustrating various books on ancient history and anthropology, Howard was also known as an illustrator of fictional books, producing an illustrated edition of the Fables of Aesop that was published by John Lane at The Bodley Head in 1926. She also illustrated Elizabeth Ward...

Franz Bergmann, Austrian (1861 -1936) - Boy Smoking Pipe, Year: circa 1900, Medium: Cold painted Bronze sculpture, Size: 2 x 6 x 2 in. (5.08 x 15.24 x 5.08 cm)

This artwork titled "Apple Orchard" 1998, is a color off set lithograph by British/American artist Pati Bannister, 1929-2013. It is hand signed, titled a...

Artist: Nino Guiffrida (Italian, born 1924) Title: Arlequin et Pierrette au Carnaval Year: 1985 Medium: Oil on canvas Canvas size: 24 x 19.75 inches Signature: signed upper right...

Italia 2 - Large scale photograph by Michael Banks Archival Pigment print on fiber based paper ( Hahnemühle Photo RAG Baryta 315 gsm ) Limited Editions of 5 , signed + numbered by...

Désiré THOMASSIN (Attributed to) Vienna, 1858 – Munich, 1933 Oil on panel 32 x 50 cm (42 x 60 cm with frame) Inscription on the back “Thomassin / Braz...

A small plaster sculpture depicting two children kissing while sitting on a log. The style of the clothing is reminiscent of that from the late 19th century to the early 20th century...

This artwork titled "Notre Dame De Paris in Winter" is an original serigraph by Russian artist Liudmilia Kondakova, born 1956. It is signed and numbered 321/325 in gold felt pen by t...

A. Lesueur French 19ème siècle Les Mille Et Une Nuits – One Thousand & One Nights, 1892 Charcoal on paper heightened with white. Signed & dated 1892 lower right. Image size 23.6 inc...

HILDA VIKA (married EGLITE) (1879 – 1963) She was born at Riga; her father was a worker at liqueur factory. Her first drawing teacher was a German artist Gerhard Fon Rozen, at Riga ...

Georg Macco Aachen 1863 - 1933 Genoa Oriental Landscape Oil on canvas Signed lower right Size: 28 x 46 cm Frame: 37 x 55 cm Original condition (see photos) Viewing and collection ...

A delightful rustic scene dating to circa 1800 with the sailor returning to his thankful wife and the domestic idyll of his country cottage. The harbour with sailing ships ferrying c...

French Romantic school, 19th century View of a citadel Pen and ink, watercolor and heightenings of white gouache on brown paper 18 x 29.5 cm In good condition, some stains and traces...

Edition of 10 Maine-based photographic artist and writer Sal Taylor Kydd uses various photographic media in a personal narrative that explores themes around memory and belonging; co...

Edition of 10 Maine-based photographic artist and writer Sal Taylor Kydd uses various photographic media in a personal narrative that explores themes around memory and belonging; co...

Sven Berlin (British, 1911 - 1999) Cock Black felt pen on paper Inscribed with title (lower left) 11.3/4 x 14 in. (29.7 x 35.5 cm.) Sven Berlin, born in Sydenham, London on 14th Sep...

Ventura A. Pérez (1992) is one of the most seductive artists on the contemporary Spanish scene. After earning a doctorate in contemporary art from the University of Vigo, he moved to...

Ventura A. Pérez (1992) is one of the most seductive artists on the contemporary Spanish scene. After earning a doctorate in contemporary art from the University of Vigo, he moved to...

A. GUILLAUME (Active in the 1830s) Watercolor on paper 32.5 x 47 cm (60 x 74.5 cm with frame) Signed and dated lower left (on the rock) “A. Guill. / 1838 » Beautiful 19th century fra...

Unidentified Artist (19th Century) "Winter Wonderland" (1885) This charming 19th-century oil painting captures a winter landscape, depicting three figures trudging through the snow, engaged in animated conversation. The scene is set against a serene rural backdrop, where bare trees and a distant village silhouette convey the stark beauty of winter. The soft glow of the sky, transitioning from warm hues to cool whites, enhances the tranquil yet brisk atmosphere of a cold winter’s day. Plot & Interpretation The three travelers appear to be peasants or laborers, possibly returning home or embarking on a journey. Their layered winter clothing, fur hats, and backpacks suggest they are seasoned wanderers or workers, braving the elements. The gesturing figure in the middle seems to be engaged in storytelling or giving directions, adding a sense of movement and interaction. The snow-covered ground and delicate shadows create depth, emphasizing the hardship and resilience of rural life in the 19th century. Materials & Condition Medium: Oil on canvas Framed Dimensions: 47 x 46 cm Canvas Dimensions: 24 x 34 cm Frame: Ornate giltwood frame, enhancing the painting’s classical aesthetic Condition: Well-preserved with minor age-related patina, in line with its 1885 dating Historical Context & Artistic Style Likely influenced by Northern European realism, particularly Russian, German, or Scandinavian schools that depicted harsh winters and rural peasant life. Comparable to the works of Adolf von Meckel, Vasily Perov, or Carl...

Anton Chotka, Austrian (1881 -1955) - Quran Teacher With Pupils, Year: circa 1900, Medium: Cold painted Bronze sculpture, stamped Austria, Size: 4.5 x 8 x 5 in. (11.43 x 20.32 x 1...

Vue du châteaux de Chenonceaux Lithograph, 1843 Letterpress signature lower left corner Signature of the printer lower right corner After Pierre Justin Ouvrié (1806-1879) Published b...

The River Barge Pen and ink on paper on laid paper, mounted in English drum mount , c. 1810 Unsigned Condition: Slight sun staining to sheet and mount in the window (see photo) Image/sheet size: 5 1/4 x 6 11/16 inches Sight: : 5-3/4 x 7-1/4" Frame: 13-3/8 x 14-3/8" Provenance: Colnaghi, London (see photo of label) David Cox (29 April 1783 – 7 June 1859) was an English landscape painter, one of the most important members of the Birmingham School of landscape artists and an early precursor of Impressionism. He is considered one of the greatest English landscape painters, and a major figure of the Golden age of English watercolour. Although most popularly known for his works in watercolour, he also painted over 300 works in oil towards the end of his career, now considered "one of the greatest, but least recognised, achievements of any British painter. His son, known as David Cox the Younger (1809-1885), was also a successful artist. Early life in Birmingham, 1783–1804 Cox's birthplace in Deritend, Birmingham, illustrated by Samuel Lines Cox was born on 29 April 1783 on Heath Mill Lane in Deritend, then an industrial suburb of Birmingham. His father was a blacksmith and whitesmith about whom little is known, except that he supplied components such as bayonets and barrels to the Birmingham gun trade. Cox's mother was the daughter of a farmer and miller from Small Heath to the east of Birmingham. Early biographers record that "she had had a better education than his father, and was a woman of superior intelligence and force of character." Cox was initially expected to follow his father into the metal trade and take over his forge, but his lack of physical strength led his family to seek opportunities for him to develop his interest in art, which is said to have first become apparent when the young Cox started painting paper kites while recovering from a broken leg. By the late 18th century Birmingham had developed a network of private academies teaching drawing and painting, established to support the needs of the town's manufacturers of luxury metal goods, but also encouraging education in fine art, and nurturing the distinctive tradition of landscape art of the Birmingham School. Cox initially enrolled in the academy of Joseph Barber in Great Charles Street, where fellow students included the artist Charles Barber and the engraver William Radclyffe, both of whom would become important lifelong friends. At the age of about 15 Cox was apprenticed to the Birmingham painter Albert Fielder, who produced portrait miniatures and paintings for the tops of snuffboxes from his workshop at 10 Parade in the northwest of the town. Early biographers of Cox record that he left his apprenticeship after Fielder's suicide, with one reporting that Cox himself discovered his master's hanging body, but this is probably a myth as Fielder is recorded at his address in Parade as late as 1825. At some time during mid-1800 Cox was given work by William Macready the elder at the Birmingham Theatre, initially as an assistant grinding colours and preparing canvases for the scene painters, but from 1801 painting scenery himself and by 1802 leading his own team of assistants and being credited in plays' publicity. London, 1804–1814 In 1804 Cox was promised work by the theatre impresario Philip Astley and moved to London, taking lodgings in 16 Bridge Row, Lambeth. Although he was unable to get employment at Astley's Amphitheatre it is likely that he had already decided to try to establish himself as a professional artist, and apart from a few private commissions for painting scenery his focus over the next few years was to be on painting and exhibiting watercolours. While living in London, Cox married his landlord's daughter, Mary Agg and the couple moved to Dulwich in 1808. David Cox Travellers on a Path, pencil and brown wash. In 1805 he made his first of many trips to Wales, with Charles Barber, his earliest dated watercolours are from this year. Throughout his lifetime he made numerous sketching tours to the Home Counties, North Wales, Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Devon. Cox exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1805. His paintings never reached high prices, so he earned his living mainly as a drawing master. His first pupil, Colonel the Hon.H. Windsor (the future Earl of Plymouth) engaged him in 1808, Cox went on to acquire several other aristocratic and titled pupils. He also went on to write several books, including: Ackermanns' New Drawing Book (1809); A Series of Progressive Lessons (1811); Treatise on Landscape Painting (1813); and Progressive Lessons on Landscape (1816). The ninth and last edition of his series Progressive Lessons, was published in 1845. By 1810 he was elected President of the Associated Artists in Water Colour. In 1812, following the demise of the Associated Artists, he was elected as associate of the Society of Painters in Water Colour (the old Water Colour Society). He was elected a Member of the Society in 1813, and exhibited there every year (except 1815 and 1817) until his death. Hereford, 1814–1827 In the summer of 1813 Cox was appointed as the drawing master of the Royal Military College in Farnham, Surrey, but he resigned shortly afterwards, finding little sympathy with the atmosphere of a military institution. Soon after that he applied to a newspaper advertisement for a position as drawing master for Miss Crouchers' School for Young Ladies in Hereford and in Autumn 1814 moved to the town with his family. Cox taught at the school in Widemarsh Street until 1819, his substantial salary of £100 per year requiring only two-day's work per week, allowing time for painting and the taking of private pupils. Cox's reputation as both a painter and a teacher had been building over previous years, as indicated by his election as a member of the Society of Painters in Water Colours and his inclusion in John Hassell's 1813 book Aqua Pictura, which claimed to present works by "all of the most approved water coloured draftsmen". The depression that accompanied the end of the Napoleonic Wars had caused a contraction in the art market, however, and by 1814 Cox had been very short of money, requiring a loan from one of his pupils to pay even for the move to Hereford. Despite its financial advantages and its proximity to the scenery of North Wales and the Wye Valley, the move to Hereford marked a retreat in terms of his career as a painter: he sent few works to the annual exhibition of the Society of Painters in Water Colours during his first years away from London and not until 1823 would he again contribute more than 20 pictures. Between 1823 and 1826 he had Joseph Murray Ince as a pupil. London, 1827–1841 He made his first trip to the Continent, to Belgium and the Netherlands in 1826 and subsequently moved to London the following year. He exhibited for the first time with the Birmingham Society of Artists in 1829, and with the Liverpool Academy in 1831. In 1839, two of Cox's watercolours were bought from the Old Water Colour Society exhibition by the Marquis of Conynha for Queen Victoria. Birmingham, 1841–1859 Greenfield House in Harborne, Birmingham – where Cox lived from 1841 until his death in 1859 . In May 1840 Cox wrote to one of his Birmingham friends: "I am making preparations to sketch in oil, and also to paint, and it is my intention to spend most of my time in Birmingham for the purpose of practice". Cox had been considering a return to painting in oils since 1836 and in 1839 had taken lessons in oil painting from William James Müller, to whom he had been introduced by mutual friend George Arthur Fripp. Hostility between the Society of Painters in Water Colours and the Royal Academy made it difficult for an artist to be recognised for work in both watercolour and oil in London, however, and it is likely that Cox would have preferred to explore this new medium in the more supportive environment of his home town. By the early 1840s his income from sales of his watercolours was sufficient to allow him to abandon his work as a drawing master, and in June 1841 he moved with his wife to Greenfield House in Harborne, then a village on Birmingham's south western outskirts. It was this move that would enable the higher levels of freedom and experimentation that were to characterise his later work. The elderly Cox pictured by Samuel Bellin in 1855. In Harborne, Cox established a steady routine – working in watercolour in the morning and oils in the afternoon. He would visit London every spring to attend the major exhibitions, followed by one or more sketching excursions, continuing the pattern that he had established in the 1830s. From 1844 these tours evolved into a yearly trip to Betws-y-Coed in North Wales to work outdoors in both oil and watercolour, gradually becoming the focus for an annual summer artists colony that continued until 1856 with Cox as its "presiding genius". Cox's experience of trying to exhibit his oils in London was short and unsuccessful: in 1842 he made his only submission to the Society of British Artists; one oil painting was exhibited at each of the British Institution and the Royal Academy in 1843; and two oil paintings were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1844 – the last that would be exhibited in London during his lifetime. Cox showed regularly at the Birmingham Society of Arts and its successor, the Birmingham Society of Artists, becoming a member in 1842. Cox suffered a stroke on 12 June 1853 that temporarily paralysed him, and permanently affected his eyesight, memory and coordination. By 1857 however, his eyesight had deteriorated. An exhibition of his work was arranged in 1858 by the Conversazione Society Hampstead, and in 1859 a retrospective exhibition was held at the German Gallery Bond Street, London. Cox died several months later. He was buried in the churchyard of St Peters, Harborne, Birmingham, under a chestnut tree, alongside his wife Mary. Work Early work In the spring of 1811 Cox made a small number of notable works in oils during a visit to Hastings with his family. It is not known why he didn't continue working in this medium at the time, but the five known surviving examples were described in 1969 as "surely some of the most brilliant examples of the genre in England". Mature work Cox reached artistic maturity after his move to Hereford in 1814. Although only two major watercolours can confidently be traced to the period between Cox's arrival in the town and the end of the decade, both of these – Butcher's Row, Hereford of 1815 and Lugg Meadows, near Hereford of 1817 – mark advances on his earlier work. Later work Cox's later work produced after his move to Birmingham in 1841 was marked by simplification, abstraction and a stripping down of detail. His art of the period combined the breadth and weight characteristic of the earlier English watercolour school, together with a boldness and freedom of expression comparable to later impressionism. His concern with capturing the fleeting nature of weather, atmosphere and light was similar to that of John Constable, but Cox stood apart from the older painter's focus on capturing material detail, instead employing a high degree of generalisation and a focus on overall effect. The quest for character over precision in representing nature was an established characteristic of the Birmingham School of landscape artists with which Cox had been associated early in his life, and as early as 1810 Cox's work had been criticised for its "sketchiness of finish" and "cloudy confusion of objects", which were held to betray "the coarseness of scene-painting". During the 1840s and 1850s Cox took this "peculiar manner" to new extremes, incorporating the techniques of the sketch into his finished works to a far greater degree. Cox's watercolour technique of the 1840s was sufficiently different from his earlier methods to need explanation to his son in 1842, despite the fact that his son had been helping him teach and paint since 1827. The materials used for his later works in watercolour also differed from his earlier periods: he used black chalk instead of graphite pencil as his primary drawing medium, and the rough and absorbent "Scotch" wrapping paper for which he became well-known – both of these were related to his development of a rougher and freer style. Influence and legacy By the 1840s Cox, alongside Peter De Wint and Copley Fielding, had become recognised as one of the leading figures of the English landscape watercolour style of the first half of the 19th century. This judgement was complicated by reaction to the rougher and bolder style of Cox's later Birmingham work, which was widely ignored or condemned. While by this time De Wint and Fielding were essentially continuing in a long-established tradition, Cox was creating a new one. A group of young artists working in Cox's watercolour style emerged well before his death, including William Bennett, David Hall McKewan and Cox's son David Cox Jr. By 1850 Bennett in particular had become recognised as "perhaps the most distinguished among the landscape painters" for his Cox-like vigorous and decisive style. Such early followers concentrated on the example of Cox's more moderate earlier work and steered clear of what were then seen as the excesses of Cox's later years. During a period dominated by sleek and detailed picturesque landscape, however, they were still condemned by publications such as The Spectator as "the 'blottesque' school", and failed to establish themselves as a cohesive movement. John Ruskin in 1857 condemned the work of the Society of Painters in Water-colours as "a kind of potted art, of an agreeable flavour, suppliable and taxable as a patented commodity", excluding only the late work of Cox, about which he wrote "there is not any other landscape which comes near these works of David Cox in simplicity or seriousness". An 1881 book, A Biography of David Cox: With Remarks on His Works and Genius, was based on a manuscript by Cox's friend William Hall, edited and expanded by John Thackray Bunce, editor of the Birmingham Daily Post. There are two Blue Plaque memorials commemorating him at 116 Greenfield Road, Harborne, Birmingham, and at 34 Foxley Road, Kennington, London, SW9, where he lived from 1827. It can also be seen at the David Cox exhibition in Birmingham. His pupils included Birmingham architectural artist, Allen Edward...

Sven Berlin (British, 1911 - 1999) A Swan landing Pen and ink 14.1/2 x 14.1/2 in. (36.8 x 36.8 cm.) Sven Berlin, born in Sydenham, London on 14th September 1911, was an English paint...