Watercolours

A painting method that employs pigment suspended in a water-based solution, usually applied onto paper.

Though its earliest origins are thought to be prehistoric, its history is usually dated from the Renaissance, when it was used by artists such as Albrecht Durer.

While it may be used as for the creation of preparatory studies, it is also an art form in its own right, and is a technique used for botanical illustration, wildlife illustration and topographical painting as well as traditional genres, particularly landscape.


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Another solid catch for Langley

26 October 2012

Mellors and Kirk of Nottingham included a watercolour by Walter Langley (1852-1922) in their fine art sale on September 20-21.

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From Picasso’s muse to artist in her own right

15 October 2012

Once she was Picasso’s muse, now she is capping her own career of more than 25 years as an artist with a three-week exhibition at The Fosse Gallery in Stow-on-the-Wold.

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Edward Wadsworth’s quarry offered in Salisbury

14 September 2012

Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury are selling the work of some of the most collectable British artists of the 20th century in their paintings auction on September 19.

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First show for Lear works

28 August 2012

EXHIBITION: The bicentenary of the birth of Edward Lear will see works from private collections go on display for the first time during an exhibition at the Ashmolean.

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Captivated by Three Graces at Bonhams

10 August 2012

There were several highlights at Bonhams’ (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) latest portrait miniatures sale in Knightsbridge on June 28.

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Glasgow School collection goes under the hammer

30 July 2012

Lyon & Turnbull are to sell the contents of the New York home of Donald and Eleanor Taffner, important collectors of works by the Glasgow School.

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Maintaining Potter prices is not all child’s play

22 July 2012

In 1922, Beatrix Potter, with her most famous little books already behind her, was persuaded by Anne Carroll Moore of the New York Public Library to produce a book of illustrated nursery rhymes.

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Going to the zoo in 1850

22 July 2012

Three pictures of London Zoo, produced within a few years of its opening to the public, were sold by Lawrences of Crewkerne on July 6.

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The 17th century court in miniature

04 July 2012

Only the day after a specialist sale at Bonhams, the June 29 auction at Strides of Chichester included two 3 x 2in (7 x 5.5cm) watercolour-on-vellum portraits by greats of the Commonwealth/Carolean age that trumped anything seen on Bond Street.

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Boulton the manufacturer comes out of the shadows at Great Tew

02 July 2012

Pictures, books and ephemera from the Great Tew estate in Oxfordshire will be offered for sale at Holloway’s in Banbury on July 10.

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Evidence of a dealer’s dedicated eye

23 May 2012

Duncan Campbell was a remarkable and unconventional dealer. His gallery in Thackeray Street, Kensington, was packed with pretty much anything that caught his eye, whether it was paintings, prints, pottery, furniture, or tribal art.

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Evensong appears at Jersey house sale

11 May 2012

On May 19, Channel Island auctioneers Martel Maides are set to offer the first single-owner house sale on Jersey for almost a decade with an on-site 500-lot sale of The Priors in St Saviours.

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Studio sale in Cirencester

11 May 2012

A studio collection of works by Charles James Adams (1859-1931), best known for his animal pictures, is to be offered at The Cotswold Auctions’ specialist picture sale on May 18 in Cirencester.

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Views from a unique Victorian honeymoon

10 April 2012

IN February we revealed how Queen Victoria was an accomplished artist, but now her daughter’s skills have been highlighted by a Surrey auction.

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Unique cache of Enid Blyton material up for sale

31 August 2010

A UNIQUE archive of original Enid Blyton material is being offered for sale by her elder daughter's estate at Ilkley auctioneers Hartley's on September 15.

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Cozens enters new territory and breaks the £2m barrier

26 July 2010

Among a series of records for British watercolours posted during Sotheby's sale entitled An Exceptional Eye: A Private British Collection on July 14, the most spectacular price was the £2.1m bid for this striking view of the Lake of Albano and Castel Gandolfo by John Robert Cozens (1752-1797).

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Rayner hits top form in Stoke

22 December 2009

THIS outstanding Louise Rayner (1832-1924) watercolour, depicting the Butter Market at Ludlow, Shropshire, posted a new house record for Louis Taylor of Stoke-on-Trent at their latest sale.

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The gift to say thank you for being saved from treason

16 February 2009

BY 1780, John Trumbull (1756-1843), a budding young artist from Lebanon, Connecticut who had sketched the Revolutionary War, found himself in grave difficulty.

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Unknown drawings by ‘father of British watercolours’ comes to light in Edinburgh

22 December 2008

A Borders property provided Thomson Roddick (15% buyer's premium) with a sensational discovery for their sale in Rosewell, Edinburgh on December 4.

Fedden offered at charity auction

17 November 2008

A Mary Fedden watercolour is among the items for sale on the philanthropic auction site www.buyoncegivetwice.co.uk

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