Welsh Landscape

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

John Varley, watercolour painter, was born in Hackney, Middlesex. He was a pupil of Joseph Charles Barrow and exhibited his first work at the Royal Academy in 1798. He worked in Wales from 1798/9 to 1802, making studies that would provide subject matter for the rest of his career. His subjects were frequently English and Welsh towns, Welsh mountain views or English landscapes, and his work demonstrates the influence of Thomas Girtin. In 1804, Varley played a leading role in establishing the Society of Painters in Water Colours. He was also a teacher of artists. By 1821 his fortunes had declined and he was declared bankrupt. He appears to have remained insolvent for the next two decades until his death at the age of 64.

Places

Wales, Snowdonia

Subjects

topography, landscape C19th, tree, cow, bird, cloud, mountain, river, man, woman

Materials & Techniques

paper (as artists material), watercolour (as artists materials), watercolour (as object name)

Artist

John Varley (1778 - 1842)

Title

Welsh Landscape

Date

1818

Medium

Watercolour on paper

Dimensions

height: 37.00 cm, width: 73.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Gilbert Davis, July 1964

Inscription

sdbr

Provenance

With Colnaghi; collection of actor and art collector Gilbert Davis (1899-1983) (and on loan to the Ministry of Works from 1952); from whom purchased by the Ministry of Works in July 1964

GAC number

1801