Property of a Lady

AFTER JOHN ROBERT COZENS (BRITISH 18TH CENTURY)
Banks of the Arve nr. Sallanches in Savoy, Switzerland
inscribed and dated Banks of the Arve Nr. Salanche in Savoy, Aug 26.1776.; numberd 4. (on the reverse)
watercolour over pencil
23.3 x 35.2 cm (9 1/4 x 13 7/8 in)

PROVENANCE:
Purchased by the present owner's late father along with another watercolour by the same hand, a view of Geneva from the N.W. (later sold), from an antique shop in London, in 1978

The present work has been identified as an 18th Century copy by an unknown hand of the original watercolour by John Robert Cozens in the British Museum (Museum No. 1900,0411.17) inscribed verso, Banks of the Arve near Salinche in Savoy / August 26 -1776, numbered No 10 and No 9.

John Robert Cozens (1752-1799), accompanied the classical scholar and great collector Richard Payne Knight (1751-1824) on his first Continental trip, travelling across the Alps from Switzerland to Italy in 1776. This trip was to be hugely influential for Cozens. He was so inspired by the monumental landscape of the Alps which filled him with awe and a sense of the sublime in nature. He produced a series of watercolours for Payne Knight based on his sketches during the two months he spent in France and Switzerland that captured his response to the landscape. His interpretation moves away from the traditional topographical recording of the landscape to an evocative, atmospheric depiction imbued with the emotions that Cozens felt. This series of watercolours was greatly admired and inspired the next generation of British landscape painters. The Monro school including the young Turner and Girtin were hugely influenced by Cozens' work and made copies influenced by Cozens' watercolours.

Cozens was known to have made several versions of the watercolours he made for Payne Knight. A slightly later version was with Lowell Libson in 2014. It shows the same view but with variations in the atmosphere of the sky, cloud formations and palette. It was his practice to add changes to the same views and show different moods and atmosphere.

The present drawing was examined side by side with the British Museum version. The laid paper dates from the 18th Century and is similar to the paper used by Cozens in the Payne Knight series. Both are likely to be from James Whatman's Turkey Mill but the watermark of a crown, shield, posthorn and letter "W" is slightly different to the watermark in the British Museum sheet. Almost identical in size and composition, when examined together the present work appears to have been carefully copied from the original composition. Even the cloud formation is identical in shape. The Payne Knight series were painted in a mainly monochrome palette. The colouring in the present version, particularly the blue wash and the way it is washed over the whole area of the sky, appears to be different to the palette and technique Cozens employed in his slightly later series of more coloured views of Italy which he painted for Francis Bassett in 1777-8. There are also differences in the way that the mass of rocks and details are conveyed which lack the three-dimensional depth that is conveyed in the original. The inscription verso is an 18th Century hand but is a different hand to the inscription on the British Museum version.

The present owner's father spent many years researching this drawing together with the drawing of Geneva that he later sold which was by the same hand. He wrote to many leading experts and institutions specialising in the field, many of whom were equally intrigued by the watercolours. It is the wish of the present owner that this archive of research is kept together with the watercolour and passed on.