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Back to 1.1.4 After Romanticism
The Norwich School of painters was the first provincial art movement established in Britain, active in the early 19th century. Artists of the school were inspired by the natural environment of the Norfolk landscape and owed some influence to the work of landscape painters of the Dutch Golden Age such as Hobbema and Ruisdael.
[Source: Wikimedia commons]
[1410-10]
 Image source: visual-arts-cork.com | It was in 1805, on the third of his visits to North Yorkshire to visit the Cholmeley family, that Cotman made the famous sequence of watercolour studies on the river Greta near Rokeby on the Yorkshire-Durham border. The wooded slopes and winding paths close to the river in Rokeby Park inspired what one author has described as ‘the most perfect examples of pure watercolour ever made in Europe’. Cotman uses pure, translucent wash layers and minimum shadow. He defines shape with the crisp edges of his washes rather than with outline. [Source: tate.org.uk] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| On the Greta (Bridge in Yorkshire) | c1805 | Wtrclr/Grp/Ppr | Landscape |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Cotman, John Sell | 1782-1842, aged 59 | English painterr | Norwich School |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1410-11] | |
| National Gallery of Art, Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20565, USA | 33 x 26 |
 Image source: pinterest.co.uk | Born in Norwich, Cotman was the son of a silk merchant and lace dealer. He showed an early talent for art and moved to London in 1798, where he met artists such as J. M. W. Turner, Peter de Wint and Thomas Girtin, whose sketching club he joined, and whom he travelled with to Wales and Surrey. By 1800 he was exhibiting at the Royal Academy, showing scenes of the Welsh countryside in 1801 and 1802. His drawing expeditions took him throughout southern Britain, and to Yorkshire, where he stayed with the Cholmeley family during the three summers of 1803–5. Cotman’s work was not thought to be important during his lifetime, and he made little from sales of his paintings and drawings. Over 600 of his watercolours and drawings were bought by James Reeve, who in 1902 sold more than half of them to the British Museum. [Source: Wikimedia commons] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Marl Pit, The | 1810 | Wtclr/Ppr | Landscape |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Cotman, John Sell | 1782-1842, aged 59 | English painterr | Norwich School |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1410-12] | |
| Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, 24 Castle Meadow, Norwich NR1 3JU | 0 |
 Image source: tate.org.uk | Mousehold Heath was a well–known stretch of common land that rose above the city of Norwich. Crome’s painting emphasises its expanse and lack of cultivation. Wild flowers grow, cattle roam freely and the rolling hills seem unending. Yet, the heath’s recent history had been turbulent. Much of the British countryside was being transformed by the enclosure of common lands and the ploughing of heath to boost agricultural return. By 1814 the bulk of Mousehold Heath was closed off. This wholesale change in land use impacted the rural poor the most as they lost a place to farm and pasture their animals. [Source: tate.org.uk] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Mousehold Heath, Norwich | c1818-1820 | Oil/Canvas | Landscape |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Crome, John (Old Crome) | 1768-1821, aged 52 | English painterr | Norwich School |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1410-13] | |
| Tate Galleries, Millbank, Westminster, London SW1P 4RG | 110 x 181 |
 Image source: Wikimedia commons | James Stark was the youngest son of an important dye manufacturer, Michael Stark, credited with the invention of the dye known as ‘Norwich red’. James became a leading member of the Norwich School of painters, was elected vice-president of the Norwich Society of Artists in 1828 and became their president in 1829. He had wealthy patrons and was consistently praised by the Norfolk press for his successful London career. Stark generally worked in oils, although his total output included etchings, watercolours and pencil and chalk drawings. His landscapes paintings often depicting woodland scenes that were pastiches of the seventeenth century Dutch masters. [Source: Wikimedia commons] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Lambeth from the River looking towards Westminster Bridge | 1818 | Oil/Canvas | Landscape |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Stark, James | 1794-1859, aged 63 | English painterr | Norwich School |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1410-14] | |
| Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St, New Haven, CT 06510, USA | 88 x 137 |
 Image source: artuk.org | It is the influence of Crome’s style on the work of many of the other Norwich artists which identify the paintings as ‘Norwich School’, the first regional school of painting in Britain. The painting shows a scene on the River Wensum, not far from where Crome lived, and is considered one of his most important works. [Source: nhmf.org.uk] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Norwich River: Afternoon | c1819 | Oil/Canvas | Landscape |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Crome, John (Old Crome) | 1768-1821, aged 52 | English painterr | Norwich School |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1410-15] | |
| unknown | 71 x 100 |
 Image source: Wikimedia commons | Vincent was an English landscape artist who produced watercolours, etchings and oil paintings. He is considered by art historians to be one of the most talented of the Norwich School of painters. A distant view of Pevensey Bay depicts a modern view of the landing place of King William the Conqueror. Today the painting is on show at the Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery. [Source: Wikimedia commons] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Distant view of Pevensey Bay, A | 1820 | Oil/Canvas | Landscape |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Vincent, George | 1796-1832, aged 36 | English painterr | Norwich School |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1410-16] | |
| Norfolk Museums Collections, Shirehall, Market Avenue, Norwich NR1 3JQ | 146 x 234 |
 Image source: artuk.org | John Berney (or Barney) Crome was an English landscape and marine painter associated with the Norwich School of painters. He is sometimes known by the nickname ‘Young Crome’ to distinguish him from his father John, known as ‘Old Crome’. [Source: Wikimedia commons] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Amsterdam, The Netherlands | 1820 | Oil/Canvas | Landscape |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Crome, John Berney | 1794-1842, aged 47 | English painterr | Norwich School |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1410-17] | |
| Norfolk Museums Collections, Shirehall, Market Avenue, Norwich NR1 3JQ | 72 x 98 |
 Image source: artuk.org | This 1821 painting by George Vincent captures the essence of the Great Yarmouth Dutch Fair in the early 19th century. The Dutch transformed Yarmouth’s fishing industry. The town became famous for its’ “silver darlings”, herring fish cured in a manner developed by the Dutch fishermen. [Source: artsandculture.google.com] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Dutch Fair at Great Yarmouth, The | 1821 | Oil/Canvas | Landscape |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Vincent, George | 1796-1832, aged 36 | English painterr | Norwich School |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1410-18] | |
| Norfolk Museums Collections, Shirehall, Market Avenue, Norwich NR1 3JQ | 130 x 162 |
 Image source: artuk.org | Ladbrooke was an English landscape painter who, along with John Crome, founded the Norwich School of painters. His sons Henry Ladbrooke and John Berney Ladbrooke were also associated with the Norwich School. Ladbrooke chiefly painted views of Norfolk scenery; but his reputation has never been more than local to this part of England. [Source: Wikimedia commons] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Foundry Bridge, Norwich | 1822-33 | Oil/Canvas | Landscape |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Ladbrooke, Robert | 1768-1842, aged 74 | English painterr | Norwich School |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1410-19] | |
| Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, 24 Castle Meadow, Norwich NR1 3JU | 67 x 98 |
 Image source: artuk.org | Zooming into the yacht centrepiece reveals a self-portrait of Stannard. During his career he exhibited in both Norwich and London, with some success. He was influenced by the work of the Dutch masters, whose works he studied and copied following a visit to Holland in 1821. His own most important painting, Thorpe Water Frolic, Afternoon, was first exhibited in Norwich in 1825. [Source: Wikipedia commons] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Thorpe Water Frolic; Afternoon | 1825 | Oil/Canvas | Landscape |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Stannard, Joseph | 1797-1830, aged 33 | English painterr | Norwich School |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1410-20] | |
| Norfolk Museums Collections, Shirehall, Market Avenue, Norwich NR1 3JQ | 0 |
 Image source: meisterdrucke.uk | Cotman’s potted biog is above, he was a landscape painter, mainly in watercolour. |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Storm on Yarmouth Beach | 1831 | Wtclr/Ppr | Landscape |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Cotman, John Sell | 1782-1842, aged 59 | English painterr | Norwich School |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1410-21] | |
| Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, 24 Castle Meadow, Norwich NR1 3JU | 30 x42 |
 Image source: Wikimedia commons | Henry Bright showed obvious artistic talents and became a pupil of Alfred Stannard. He is also said to have been trained by John Berney Crome and John Sell Cotman, both of whom were members of the Norwich Society of Artists. Bright painted in various locations in England, Scotland, Wales and across Europe, working in oils, watercolour, chalk and pencil. During a few of these sketching expeditions he was accompanied by J M W Turner, with whom he had struck up a friendship. Bright’s work was also highly regarded by John Ruskin. [Source: Wikimedia commons] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| On the Norfolk Broads | 1855 | Oil/Canvas | Landscape |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Bright, Henry | 1810-1873, aged 63 | English painterr | Norwich School |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | ||
| Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St, New Haven, CT 06510, USA | 27 x 45 |
Forward to 1.1.4.2 Biedermeier, Germany (1810-1860)
Back to 1.1.4 After Romanticism