John Sell Cotman

The age of John Sell Cotman was the era of the great English watercolour lists. Already at a young age, the artist from well-off circumstances studied the basics of watercolour painting. It drew the artists out into the nature of his homeland and locally the translucent landscape paintings with their flowing transitions were created. Cotman was not exclusively an artist, he was also a teacher throughout his life and developed the romantic landscape painting with its light reflections.

In contrast to Cotman's colleagues Joseph Mallord William Turner and Thomas Girtin, Cotman worked with a strict image composition and the demarcation of light and dark areas in his works. His work "The Greta Bridge" shows very clearly approaches of the later popular style, which reminds of Japanese woodblock prints. The river Greta is a recurring theme in Cotman's works between 1803 and 1805. During regular summer stays he studied the river and developed a new way of depicting it.

John Sell Cotman had a great talent. Already at a young age he produced a series of etchings. Thematically he chose architecturally interesting buildings of historic Yorkshire. "The Castle at Tancarville" is one of Cotman's etchings which shows a great attention to detail. John Sell Cotman leaves behind a great and creative work. During his lifetime, the artist regularly exhibited in large houses and received artistic recognition.