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Creator:
John Sell Cotman, 1782–1842
Title:

Aberystwyth Castle

Date:
1796 to 1806
Medium:
Watercolor on medium, moderately textured, cream laid paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 11 1/4 x 19 1/2 inches (28.6 x 49.5 cm), Contemporary drawn border: 12 1/8 x 20 1/2 inches (30.8 x 52.1 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed on verso in graphite: "Aberystwyth Castle"

Signed in brown ink, lower right: "J. S. Cotman"; not dated

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1986.29.566
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
castle | landscape | men | sea
Associated Places:
Aberystwyth | United Kingdom
Access:
Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
Note: The Study Room is open by appointment. Please visit the Study Room page on our website for more details.
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:2207
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John Sell Cotman, one of the rising stars of watercolor painting in the first years of the nineteenth century, was a follower of Girtin, whose influence is evident in this thoroughly Girtinean essay in sublime topography. The scene is the beach at Aberystwyth in Wales, dominated by the brooding, ruined castle with two small boats attempting to land through a rough sea. It was on the strength of works like this that in 1802 the young Cotman succeeded Girtin as leader of "The Brothers," the small group of watercolorists who met regularly to illustrate epic themes.

Gallery label for Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-06-09 - 2008-08-17)

Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-06-09 - 2008-08-17) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (The State Hermitage Museum, 2007-10-23 - 2008-01-13) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2007-07-11 - 2007-09-30) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Thomas Girtin and the Art of Watercolour (Tate Britain, 2002-07-04 - 2002-09-29) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Presences of Nature - British Landscape 1780-1830 (Yale Center for British Art, 1982-10-20 - 1983-02-27) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Louis Hawes, Constable's Hadleigh Castle and British Romantic Ruin Painting, Art Bulletin, v. 65., no. 3, September, 1983, pp. 462-63, N11 C4 + (YCBA) Also Available online via JSTOR [YCBA]

Louis Hawes, Presences of Nature : British Landscape, 1780-1830, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1982, pp. 43, 152-3, no. III.22, pl. 32, ND1354.4 H38 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Yale Center for British Art, Great British watercolors : from the Paul Mellon Collection, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2007, pp. 132-33, no. 57, ND1928 .Y35 2007 (LC)+ Oversize (YCBA) [YCBA]


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