A ruined fort near Salerno

Copyright

Work in the public domain
Image: Courtauld
by-nc

Maker

(artist)
1752-1797

Title

A ruined fort near Salerno

Date of Production

(circa) 1782

Medium

graphite and watercolour with scratching out on laid paper, laid down

Dimensions

Height: 26 cm
Width: 37.3 cm

Object Number

D.2007.DS.12

Mode of Acquisition

Dorothy Scharf, bequest, 2007 (March)

Credit

Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Location

Not currently on display
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Keywords

Label Text

John Robert Cozens based this view of a crumbling fort on a sketch made during a trip to Italy. The careful rendering of vegetation and clouds attests to the artist’s close study of nature. However, the overall focus is on mood rather than exact representation. Cozens achieved rich colour effects by applying multiple layers of wash to the sheet. His painterly handling profoundly influenced younger watercolourists, especially J.M.W. Turner.

Notes

Cozens toured the Continent with William Beckford, one of his patrons, in 1782, and this was one of the views Beckford requested he record, which Cozens did a number of times.

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: centre: a name, but illegible due to sheet being laid down - perhaps ends in "OR".

Collector's mark: Verso (backing sheet): lower right, stamped: John Percy (L.1504).

Inscription: Verso (backing sheet): centre, brown ink and graphite (the 2nd line): "In the Bay of Salerno / Near Salerno"; lower centre, graphite: "The original Study from nature / dated 7th Nov. 1782 is in / Mr Beckford SRC/C/C Vol IV p.17."; lower left, graphite: "Exhibited at the Burlington / Fine Arts Club. 1922/23 / No. 29"; lower right, graphite: "J.R. Cozens. / 0553".

Provenance

William Beckford (1760-1844); his sale, Christie's (London), 10 April 1805, lot 64; Dr Thomas Monro (1759-1833); Dr John Percy (1817-1889), L.1504; his sale, Christie's (London), 16 April 1890, lot 290; Frank W. Keen, by 1922; his sale, Christie's (London), 10 November 1933, lot 109; purchased there by Smith (?) for 65 gns; Frank C. Parker; anonymous sale, Sotheby's (London), 18 March 1971, lot 72; purchased there by O'Malley (?) for £80; Thomas Agnew & Sons (London) by 1973; purchased there by Miss Dorothy Scharf, London (1942-2004); Scharf Bequest 2007

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Pen to Brush: British Drawings and Watercolours, Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/11/2021-28/02/2022
Return to Darkness, Musée Rath, Geneva, 02/12/2016-19/03/2017
A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, The Morgan Library, New York, 30/05/2014-07/09/2014
...More
A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/01/2014-27/04/2014
The Courtauld Collects - 20 Years of Acquisitions, Somerset House & London & England, 17/06/2010-19/09/2010
British Watercolours from the Scharf Bequest, Courtauld Gallery, London, 15/10/2008-01/01/2009
100th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours and Drawings, Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 15/01/1973-16/02/1973
Drawings by Robert Cozens, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1922-23
...Less

Literature

Musée Rath, Geneva, 2 December 2016 - 19 March 2017, Le Retour des Tenebres: L'imaginaire Gothique depuis Frankenstein, Musumeci 2016
ill. on p. 205
A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, Courtauld Gallery; Morgan Library, 2014
no. 14
ill. on p. 51
Bell, C.F. and Thomas Girtin, The 23rd volume of the Walpole Society 1934-1935. The drawings and sketches of John Robert Cozens, Oxford: University Press, 1935
Vol. 23, p. 66
For the preparatory study see no. 305 on p. 65

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