Skelwith Cascade

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

John ‘Warwick’ Smith was born in Cumberland, the son of a gardener to the sister of Captain John Bernard Gilpin. Gilpin gave him lessons and took him on sketching trips. In about 1775, he met the Earl of Warwick, who funded his stay in Italy (1776-81). He continued producing Italian pictures after his return. He later travelled on UK sketching tours and received commissions for series of watercolours, including 56 of Perthshire and 26 of the Isle of Man for the Duke of Atholl. He made several trips to Wales between 1784 and 1806, resulting in 15 plates for ‘A Tour to Hafod in Cardiganshire’ (1810). In 1805, he became a member of the Society of Painters in Watercolour and was later its President. He died at the age of 81 in London.
In 1767 Samuel Middiman was apprenticed to the engraver William Byrne and later worked with printmakers William Woollett and Francesco Bartolozzi. As a specialist in landscape etching, his skills were always in demand. He made 16 plates for the publication ‘Picturesque Castles and Abbeys in England and Wales’ (1807-11) and 53 for ‘Select Views in Great Britiain’ (1814). From 1780 to 1782 and from 1795 to 1797 he exhibited drawings at the Royal Academy. In 1788 he married Martha Woodyer at St Pancras. Middiman produced four plates for the ‘Shakespeare Gallery’. Later in his career he turned to landscape painting and exhibited several works at the British Institution. He died at Cirencester Place in Westbourne Park, London, in December 1831.

Places

England, Lake District, Cumbria

Subjects

topography, landscape C19th, river, stone/rock, waterfall, cliff, man, house

Materials & Techniques

engraving, coloured engraving

Artist

John "Warwick" Smith (1749 - 1831)
Samuel Middiman (1750 - 1831)

Title

Skelwith Cascade

Date

published 21 January 1785

Medium

Coloured engraving

Acquisition

Purchased from Baynton-Williams, February 1977

GAC number

12854