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Byland Abbey, Yorkshire

Maker

(artist)
1782-1842

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1835

Medium

graphite on wove paper with graphite framing lines, now discoloured in the pictorial area

Dimensions

Height: 32.6 cm
Width: 21.9 cm

Accession Number

D.1967.WS.19

Mode of Acquisition

William Wycliffe Spooner, bequest, 1967

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

In this drawing, Cotman isolates the picturesque façade of the twelfth-century Cistercian monastery, Byland Abbey. He strategically eliminates evidence of the surrounding landscape, omitting hints of human and animal life. The focus is on the abandoned, dilapidated building itself, as vegetation wraps slowly around its edges. The artist makes a feature of masonry and timber, which allude to the process of construction. Piranesi’s influence is evident in the treatment of architectural space and structural decay.

Notes

Cotman visited Byland in 1803. From sketches taken on his visits he made an etching and four watercolours, two of which are in Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery. The inscription indicates this was one of the many numbered drawings he made for pupils to copy.

Provenance

William Wycliffe Spooner, Ilkley (1882-1967); Spooner Bequest 1967

Exhibition History

Special Display - Building and Destruction - Architectural Imagery from the Courtauld's Drawings Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/10/2009-17/01/2010

British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005; Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere, 18/07/2005-23/10/2005; Hermitage Rooms, Somerset House, London, 16/11/2005-12/02/2006

Masters of the Watercolour - Watercolours from the Spooner
Collection, Holburne Museum of Art, Bath, 1969 ...More

English Water-Colours: Memorial Exhibition to William Wycliffe
Spooner, Harrogate, 1968 ...Less

Literature

English Water-Colours: Memorial Exhibition to William Wycliffe Spooner, Harrogate, 1968
cat. no. 69

Masters of the Watercolour - Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Holburne Museum of Art, Bath, 1969
cat. no. 17

John Sell Cotman 1782-1842. A touring exhibition arranged by the Arts Council of Great Britain, V&A, London; Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, 1982
under no. 19 ...More

The Spooner Collection of British Watercolours, Courtauld Institute Galleries; Huntington Library; Wordsworth Trust, 2005-06
cat. no. 65
ill. on p. 203 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: Recto, left centre edge: "J WHATMAN / TURKEY MILL / 1825".

Collector's mark: none.

Inscription: Watermark, left centre edge: J WHATMAN / TURKEY MILL / 1825 //

Inscription: Recto: lower left, graphite, signed: "Cotman"; lower right, graphite, artist's hand: "2492 / Byland Abbey / Yorkshire".

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