Andrew Lambirth

Particularity of place

issue 29 December 2012

John Sell Cotman (1782–1842) is a key figure in the great tradition of English watercolour painting. A prominent member of the Norwich School (he was born in the city), he was a landscape painter of genius, who transcended mere topographical record by making paintings of superb abstract design which also evoke the particularity of place. He could suggest space and light and weather with the lightest and broadest of touches, in images that look curiously modern, if not timeless. He earned a living by teaching and travelling, making saleable studies of antiquities, many of which were reproduced as etchings. Between 1810 and 1821 he focused on the architecture of Norfolk and Normandy, and it is from this work that the exhibition is drawn.

Comprising some 80 watercolours, drawings and prints by Cotman, and 20 by other hands, this show holds the walls nicely in Dulwich’s temporary exhibition space. The first room offers a compressed introduction to the artist and his range of expression.

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