FDA-D.150-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-D.150-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
Rhyl Sands
Pilkington
Pilkington
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
collection
collection
Comments
David Cox was born in Birmingham. He came to London in 1804 and soon began to take lessons with John Varley, who remained his teacher until 1808. Cox exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1805; he was a member of the short-lived Associated Artists in Watercolour, then joined the reformed Society of Painters in Watercolours in 1813. In this year his Treatise on Landscape Painting was published, the first of a succession of clearly illustrated primers for amateurs which made Cox one of the most influential artists of the day. By the time of his death in 1859, he was generally ranked second only to Turner among the landscape artists equally at home in oils and watercolour.
Cox made his first tour of Wales in 1805, and contunued to make regular visits throughout his life. His paintings and sketches of Rhyl date from his final two decades, when the place was a fast-expanding seaside resort. He exhibited watercolours of the town from 1843, but it is the works of the 1850s which are most remarkable for their freedom of handling and great sensitivity to the play of the the elements. Here, sea, sky and sand seem almost to merge; certanily, the same tone of blue watercolour is used for all three. Even if it is perhaps stretching credibility to imagine Cox working out of doors on this drawing in the blustery conditions he depicts, the limited materials he chooses are true to the spirit of such a method, and account for its dazzling immediacy.
Cox made his first tour of Wales in 1805, and contunued to make regular visits throughout his life. His paintings and sketches of Rhyl date from his final two decades, when the place was a fast-expanding seaside resort. He exhibited watercolours of the town from 1843, but it is the works of the 1850s which are most remarkable for their freedom of handling and great sensitivity to the play of the the elements. Here, sea, sky and sand seem almost to merge; certanily, the same tone of blue watercolour is used for all three. Even if it is perhaps stretching credibility to imagine Cox working out of doors on this drawing in the blustery conditions he depicts, the limited materials he chooses are true to the spirit of such a method, and account for its dazzling immediacy.
Other number
Pi 243
Description
Dimensions
height (actual size): 266mm
width (actual size): 371mm
width (actual size): 371mm
Materials & techniques note
Black chalk and watercolour on oatmeal paper
Production
Person
Cox, David (Snr), 1783 - 1859 (Artist)
Date
1850-55
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Collection of Alan Pilkington; by whom bequeathed to Eton College in 1973
Exhibited: 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 6 to 24 January 2003, catalogue number 45; 'Watercolours from the Eton College Collections', Verey Gallery, Eton College, 24 November 2018 to 24 February 2019
Exhibited: 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 6 to 24 January 2003, catalogue number 45; 'Watercolours from the Eton College Collections', Verey Gallery, Eton College, 24 November 2018 to 24 February 2019
