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Llyn Cwellyn, near Snowdon

Maker

(artist)
1739-1816

Title

Date of Production

11 July 1777

Medium

graphite, pen and grey ink, watercolour on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 27.4 cm
Width: 43.1 cm

Accession Number

D.2007.DS.39

Mode of Acquisition

Dorothy Scharf, bequest, 2007 (March)

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

In this panoramic Welsh mountain view, Towne has described the land in simplified masses of colour and tone. Pencil lines, sketched on the spot, are reinforced in pen and ink drawn over translucent watercolour washes. Exaggerated heights and the absence of human life evoke the ‘sublime’ nature of the mountainous scenery. Towne’s emphasis on outlines and flat planes of colour distinguishes his style from that of his contemporaries. Yet his striking originality was not fully recognized until his work was rediscovered in the 1920s.

Notes

Tthis is a view of the lake of Llyn Cwellyn looking north. The protruding rock on the left edge of the water is seen from the other direction in 'Mynydd Mawr', now belonging to National Trust for Scotland, Brodie Castle. Judging from the long foreground shadow, Towne's inscription, and the warmth of the sky, this is an early evening view.

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 (1860-1945), May 1915; purchased from them by Thomas Agnew & Sons (London), 6 March 1922 (£70); purchased there by Victor Rienaecker (1887- after 1959) (£90); Walter C. Hetherington, Gerrards Cross; his estate sale, Christie's (London), 14 February 1978, lot 108; purchased there by Anthony Reed (London) in partnership with Davis & Langdale (New York) (£9,500); private collector, Southern California; sold by them to Thomas Agnew & Sons (London), March - April 1990, no. 14; purchased there by Miss Dorothy Scharf, London (1942-2004); Scharf Bequest 2007

Exhibition History

British Watercolours from the Scharf Bequest, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 15/10/2008-01/01/2009

117th Annual Exhibition of Drawings and Watercolours, Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 12/03/1990-06/04/1990

British landscape watercolors from Southern California private collections, Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Museum, San Marino, California, 1986-87 ...More

English Sketches and Studies, Anthony Reed, London and Davis and Long, New York, 1978

Three Exeter artists of the eighteenth century : Francis Hayman, Francis Towne, John White Abbott. Catalogue of loan exhibition by arrangement with the Arts Council of Great Britain, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, 08/05/1951-22/09/1951

Exhibition of selected watercolour drawings by artists of the early English school, Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 1922

Exhibition of original drawings at the Gallery ... by F. Towne, The Gallery, Brook Street, London, 1805 ...Less

Literature

English Sketches and Studies, Anthony Reed (London) and Davis and Long (New York), 1978
cat. no. 17

Bury, Adrian, Francis Towne: Lone star of water-colour painting, London, 1962
p. 118

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. FT092
ill.

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: centre: Strasburg lily with a "P" in the upper lobe, above "4" above an inverted "v" above monogram "VD" and "L" (matches, though larger than, Heawood 1848 - London 1775).

Inscription: F. Towne. / delt. 1777. No. 28 //

Inscription: No 28 July 11. 1777 / View of Llyngwellyn / drawn on the Spot by Francis Towne //

Inscription: Light from the left hand

Inscription: DLA-1443

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