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Somerset House from the Thames

Maker

(artist)
1763-1804

Title

Date of Production

1788

Medium

graphite, pen and grey ink, watercolour and touches of bodycolour on laid paper, framed with grey ink lines and grey wash borders (a feigned mount), laid down by the artist

Dimensions

Height: 49.2 cm
Width: 64 cm

Accession Number

D.1967.WS.37

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

An admirer of the sweeping cityscapes popularised by Venetian artists, Edward Dayes depicted London with similar grandeur in his highly finished watercolours. His ideas of compositional balance used linear opposites and warm and cool colours to convey opposing emotions. This is demonstrated in the contrast between the carefully ruled stonework of buildings and the undulating contours of waves and clouds. On the far left, Dayes shows the incomplete south block of Somerset House before the construction of the Victoria Embankment in 1865.

Provenance

Earl of Cadogan; purchased from him by Bury Art Galleries (London) and exhibited 7 June - 7 July 1950; Leger Galleries (London); William Wycliffe Spooner, Ilkley (1882-1967); Spooner Bequest 1967

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Pen to Brush: British Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/11/2021-28/02/2022

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 and Art Gallery, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005 ...More

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

English Watercolours: The Spooner Collection and Bequest, City Art Gallery, Bristol, 11/05/1973-02/06/1973

The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/04/1968-01/07/1968

Early English watercolours, City Art Gallery, Leeds, 08/10/1958-23/11/1958

Exhibition of English painters in oils and watercolours, Bury Art Galleries, London, 07/06/1950-07/07/1950 ...Less

Literature

Bury Art Galleries (advertisement for an exhibition), The Connoisseur, June 1950
ill.

Early English watercolours, City Art Gallery, Leeds, 1958
cat. no. 27

The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1968
cat. no. 27 ...More

English Watercolours: The Spooner Collection and Bequest, City Art Gallery, Bristol, 1973
cat. no. 20

The Spooner Collection of British Watercolours, Courtauld Institute Galleries; Huntington Library; Wordsworth Trust, 2005-06
cat. no. 41
ill. on p. 155 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower left corner, light brown ink, faded and difficult to see, signed by the artist: “EDayes”; lower left corner, grey ink, dated: “1788”. Verso (artist’s backing sheet): centre, black ink, artist’s hand, the “ED” monogram: “Somerset House London 1788 / EDayes”.

Collector's mark: none.

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