The Founder’s Tower, Magdalen College, Oxford

Frederick Nash (1782 - 1856)

Watercolour on paper

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Government Art Collection

    Rudolph Ackermann published the topographical book 'A History of the University of Oxford, its Colleges, Halls, and Public Buildings' in 1813-14, for which Frederick Nash was one of several artists who produced illustrations. The aquatint illustration of the Founder’s Tower, titled in the book 'Old Gate of Magdalen College', was in fact made after a drawing by A. W. N. Pugin. However, this watercolour may have been produced as part of the project, but not used.

    A similar view of the tower was painted in watercolour by J. M. W. Turner in c.1794 (now in the collection of the British Museum).

  • About the artist
    Frederick Nash was born in Lambeth; the son of a builder. He studied architectural drawing under Thomas Malton jnr, before entering the Royal Academy Schools. Nash was employed by architects and drew plates for John Britton’s ‘Architectural Antiquities’ (1807) and Britton and E. W. Brayley’s ‘The Beauties of England and Wales’ (1801-09). From 1807 he worked as architectural draughtsman and lithographer to the Society of Antiquaries. In 1810, he became a member of Society of Painters in Watercolours. He also painted in oils. Nash made sketching trips to Calais, Caen, the Lake District, the Moselle and the Rhine. In 1834 he moved to Brighton. He turned to landscape painting, particularly views of Sussex, before his death in Brighton, aged 73.
  • Explore
    Places
    England, Oxford: Magdalen College, Oxford, Oxfordshire
    Subjects
    topography, townscape/cityscape, grass, academic gown, college, student, path, gate, lawn, university, battlement/crenellation, door, window, tower
    Materials & Techniques
    paper (as artists material), watercolour (as artists materials), watercolour (as object name)
  • Details
    Artist
    Frederick Nash (1782 - 1856)
    Title
    The Founder’s Tower, Magdalen College, Oxford
    Date
    Medium
    Watercolour on paper
    Dimensions
    height: 32.00 cm, width: 23.50 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from Appleby Bros, January 1972
    GAC number
    9450