FDA-D.128-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-D.128-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
Mercato Nuovo, Florence
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
Comments
After initial training as an engraver in London, Callow moved to Paris in 1829. There he met Thomas Shotter Boys and shared a studio with him for two years from 1831. Callow too fell under the spell of Bonington and transferred his interest to watercolour. He had great success at the Paris Salon, and was employed to teach the children of Louis-Philippe. In 1835 Callow took the first of a series of lengthy walking tours in France, Germany and Switzerland; his first trip to Italy was for his honeymoon in 1840. Callow moved back to England in 1841, and exhibited at the Watercolour Society, to which he had been elected Associate in 1838, every year until his death in 1908.
Continental market scenes, whether in Belgium, Germany, France, or, here, in Italy, became one of Callow's most often repeated subjects at the London exhibitions. Full of animations and the visual novelties of traditional costume or unusual local produce, such events delighted the English travellers who swarmed through Europe in ever-increasing numbers. Although Florence was a magnet for these tourists, Callow exhibited very few watercolours of the city. The present subject is presumably based on sketches made during a visit in 1876, en route for Rome. The New Market, designed by Giuseppe Margoni, had been completed as recently as 1874, but Callow cunningly casts its vast classical portico in shadow, allowing the older buildings surrounding it to catch the eye. He exhibited views of the old market in 1878 and 1890, but this watercolour, probably shown in 1877, is the only time the New Market features in his work.
Continental market scenes, whether in Belgium, Germany, France, or, here, in Italy, became one of Callow's most often repeated subjects at the London exhibitions. Full of animations and the visual novelties of traditional costume or unusual local produce, such events delighted the English travellers who swarmed through Europe in ever-increasing numbers. Although Florence was a magnet for these tourists, Callow exhibited very few watercolours of the city. The present subject is presumably based on sketches made during a visit in 1876, en route for Rome. The New Market, designed by Giuseppe Margoni, had been completed as recently as 1874, but Callow cunningly casts its vast classical portico in shadow, allowing the older buildings surrounding it to catch the eye. He exhibited views of the old market in 1878 and 1890, but this watercolour, probably shown in 1877, is the only time the New Market features in his work.
Description
Content (place)
Italy
Dimensions
height (sight size): 645mm
width (sight size): 470mm
height (frame): 816mm
width (frame): 638mm
depth (frame): 45mm
width (sight size): 470mm
height (frame): 816mm
width (frame): 638mm
depth (frame): 45mm
Inscription
Signed and dated lower right 'William Callow 1877'
Materials & techniques note
Watercolour and bodycolour on paper
Physical description
Carved gilt wood frame
Production
Person
Date
1877
History and association
Object history note
PROVENANCE: Byron Perrins; Alan Pilkington, bequeathed 1973.
EXHIBITED: Society of Painters in Watercolours, 1877 (181). A Genius for Watercolour, Christie’s 2003, no. 58.
EXHIBITED: Society of Painters in Watercolours, 1877 (181). A Genius for Watercolour, Christie’s 2003, no. 58.
