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Near Devil's Bridge, Wales
Maker
(artist)
1739-1816
1739-1816
Title
Near Devil's Bridge, Wales
Date of Production
1810
Medium
graphite, pen and grey ink, watercolour and bodycolour on two sheets of wove paper joined together, now laid down on Japanese tissue
Dimensions
Height: 17.2 cm
Width: 51.4 cm
Width: 51.4 cm
Accession Number
D.1967.WS.93
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
Towne spent most of his life working as a drawing master in Devon and resented any suggestion that he was merely a provincial artist. This sheet, consisting of two pieces of paper now trimmed and joined in the centre, comes from a sketchbook which records a tour he made in the summer of 1810 through mid-Wales. The unusually large width enabled him to compose a panoramic view of the wooded mountain valley, the finished watercolour showing Towne’s characteristic lack of detail and restricted palette.
Provenance
bequeathed by the artist to James White, Exeter (1744-1825), on whose death it passed to the artist's residuary legatee, John Herman Merivale (1779-1844); by descent to his granddaughters Maria Sophia Merivale, Oxford (1853-1928) and Judith Ann Merivale, Oxford (1860-1945), May 1915 (as part of a sketchbook); by descent to Mr and Mrs Sutton, New Zealand (first names? dates?); purchased from them by the Fine Art Society (London), 19 June 1963 (£3,750, for 17 drawings from the sketchbook); purchased there by Mr and Mrs William Wycliffe Spooner, Ilkley (1882-1967), April 1964 (£750); Spooner Bequest 1967
Exhibition History
A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, The Morgan Library, New York, 30/05/2014-07/09/2014
A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/01/2014-27/04/2014
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
The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/09/1986-30/11/1986; The Drawing Center, New York, 08/04/1986-26/07/1986
English Landscape Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/06/1979-01/09/1979
Exhibition of Drawings and Watercolours from the Spooner and Witt Collections, Australia, New Zealand, 1976-78
The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1974
English Watercolours: The Spooner Collection and Bequest, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol, 11/05/1973-02/06/1973
Masters of the Watercolour - Watercolours from the Spooner
Collection, Holburne Museum of Art, Bath, 1969
The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/04/1968-01/07/1968 ...Less
A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/01/2014-27/04/2014
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
The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/09/1986-30/11/1986; The Drawing Center, New York, 08/04/1986-26/07/1986
English Landscape Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/06/1979-01/09/1979
Exhibition of Drawings and Watercolours from the Spooner and Witt Collections, Australia, New Zealand, 1976-78
The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1974
English Watercolours: The Spooner Collection and Bequest, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol, 11/05/1973-02/06/1973
Masters of the Watercolour - Watercolours from the Spooner
Collection, Holburne Museum of Art, Bath, 1969
The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/04/1968-01/07/1968 ...Less
Literature
The Spooner Collection of British Watercolours, Courtauld Institute Galleries; Huntington Library; Wordsworth Trust, 2005-06
cat. no. 16
ill. on p. 105
Francis Towne, London and Leeds, 1997-1998
p. 141
The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1986
cat. no. 109
ill. on p. 241 ...More
Mantegna to Cezanne: Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 1983
no. 95, pp. 75-76
ill. on p. 95
As 'Spooner collection 91'
Hawes, Louis, Presences of Nature: British Landscape 1780-1830, New Haven 1982
p. 118
incorrectly called a '1777 Welsh view'
English Landscape Drawings and Watercolours, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1979
cat. no. 28
Exhibition of Drawings and Watercolours from the Spooner and Witt Collections, Australia, New Zealand, 1976 - 1978
cat. no. 17
The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1974
cat. no. 24
pl. IIa
English Watercolours: The Spooner Collection and Bequest, City Art Gallery, Bristol, 1973
cat. no. 53
Masters of the Watercolour - Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Holburne Museum of Art, Bath, 1969
cat. no. 69
ill.
Troutman, Philip, 'The Evocation of Atmosphere in the English Water-colour' in Apollo, July 1968
p. 55
fig. 5 on p. 53
The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1968
cat. no. 19
pl. VIIIa
Stephens, Richard, A Catalogue Raisonné of The Works of Francis Towne, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, http://francistowne.ac.uk/collection/home
no. FT693
ill. ...Less
cat. no. 16
ill. on p. 105
Francis Towne, London and Leeds, 1997-1998
p. 141
The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1986
cat. no. 109
ill. on p. 241 ...More
Mantegna to Cezanne: Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 1983
no. 95, pp. 75-76
ill. on p. 95
As 'Spooner collection 91'
Hawes, Louis, Presences of Nature: British Landscape 1780-1830, New Haven 1982
p. 118
incorrectly called a '1777 Welsh view'
English Landscape Drawings and Watercolours, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1979
cat. no. 28
Exhibition of Drawings and Watercolours from the Spooner and Witt Collections, Australia, New Zealand, 1976 - 1978
cat. no. 17
The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1974
cat. no. 24
pl. IIa
English Watercolours: The Spooner Collection and Bequest, City Art Gallery, Bristol, 1973
cat. no. 53
Masters of the Watercolour - Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Holburne Museum of Art, Bath, 1969
cat. no. 69
ill.
Troutman, Philip, 'The Evocation of Atmosphere in the English Water-colour' in Apollo, July 1968
p. 55
fig. 5 on p. 53
The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1968
cat. no. 19
pl. VIIIa
Stephens, Richard, A Catalogue Raisonné of The Works of Francis Towne, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, http://francistowne.ac.uk/collection/home
no. FT693
ill. ...Less
Inscriptions
Watermark: Watermark: Recto, upper right corner, cut off: "[...]TMAN / [...]808".
Inscription: Verso (under Japanese tissue): lower left corner, graphite: “near the Devil’s Bridge”; written twice at centre, once upside down, on what were formerly the right and left edges of the two sheets: “Join”; lower centre, on what was the lower right corner of one sheet, and written again on the current lower right corner: “1+2”.
Collector's mark: none.
Label: Removed from a former frame and now in the file: from the Fine Art Society, printed in black ink and filled in with a typewriter: "TITLE Near the Devil's Bridge / ARTIST Francis Towne 1740-1816 / No. 7772/4 DATE November 1963"; from The Courtauld, filled in with black ink: "THE NORTHERN LANDSCAPE / Cat. 109 / Towne: Near Devil's Bridge".
Inscription: Verso (under Japanese tissue): lower left corner, graphite: “near the Devil’s Bridge”; written twice at centre, once upside down, on what were formerly the right and left edges of the two sheets: “Join”; lower centre, on what was the lower right corner of one sheet, and written again on the current lower right corner: “1+2”.
Collector's mark: none.
Label: Removed from a former frame and now in the file: from the Fine Art Society, printed in black ink and filled in with a typewriter: "TITLE Near the Devil's Bridge / ARTIST Francis Towne 1740-1816 / No. 7772/4 DATE November 1963"; from The Courtauld, filled in with black ink: "THE NORTHERN LANDSCAPE / Cat. 109 / Towne: Near Devil's Bridge".
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