Cotmania. Vol. II. 1927-8

{Newspaper cutting - The Times}
<The Times
June 23 1928>
ENGLISH WATER-COLOURS
Some of the most genuine qualities of native art are to be enjoyed at the sixth annual exhibition of water-colours by Turner, Girtin, Cotman, De Wint, Samuel Palmer, and other masters of the English school at the Cotswold Gallery, 59, Frithstreet, Soho. As it should be, it is a small exhibition - of 41 works - allowing the leisurely examination to which the character of the gallery conduces. Turner is to be seen in his most racy humour in "St Catherine's Hill, near Guildford," with "all the fun of the fair" going on in the middle of the road and the Portsmouth coach approaching at full speed, the ruined chapel above the turmoil providing the dramatic contrast that was congenial to him. "The Walls of Rome" shows him working in detail for the engraver, while "The Two Bridges, Llangollen," is an example of the consistent slightness at a particular stage of a drawing that his knowledge made possible. There is only one Girtin, a delicate study of "The Grey Castle," but there are two Cotmans.
In some respects "The Overgrown Well" is the most interesting drawing in the collection, because it shows the artistic quality that a great man cannot help getting into what might be regarded as an exercise. It is not unlikely that the drawing was made as a "copy" for pupils. Everything in it is very carefully planned, you see how everything is done - the stylization of the foliage and the tinting of the individual bricks or stones - and yet the total effect - the slow movement of the arch of green and the dark impact of the block or pulley on the sky - is intensely though quietly emotional.

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{catalogue cuttings with handwritten note}

14. The Red Cloak. JOHN SELL COTMAN
20. The Overgrown Well. JOHN SELL COTMAN

<bought by R.H.K for 75£>