Cotmania. Vol. VI. 1930-31

OUTLINE OF HIS LIFE.
John Joseph Cotman, the second son of
John Sell Cotman and named after his
father and ancestor, was born at Southtown,
Great Yarmouth, in 1814, but ten years
later the Cotman family was established in
Norwich, the young John Joseph being
sent to school and later placed with his
uncle Edmund, the haberdasher in London
Street, an occupation he seems to have
truly detested. In 1834 his talent for draw-
­ing having developed, he accompanied his
father to London, the latter having received
the appointment of Drawing Master at
Kings College. The son found the life and
bustle of the Metropolis so trying that a
year later he was back in Norwich teaching
drawing and living at 5, Newmarket Terrace.
He was not strong and his habit of morbid
introspection seriously affected hig health.
He delighted in sketching in the open air
whenever his health permitted, but depend-
ing entirely upon teaching for a living, his
drawings were often utilised for that purpose.
Even so, he appears to have been a very
prolific artist, but one whose talent was
largely overshadowed by that of his father.
Extracts from his journal, commenced in
1838 find him often in despondent mood,
but his deep love of his art always manifests
itself. That he was a man of good presence
is well known, but in view of hie erotic
temperament it is a little surprising to find
him delivering between 1849-1851 a series
of lectures in Norwich and Yarmouth on
the "Art of drawing and design considered
as a means of mental culture." In the
spring of 1878 he went into the Norfolk
and Norwich Hospital for an operation on
the tongue. All might have been well with
him, but he was seized with a fit of restless­-
ness during his recovery and without per­-
mission from the doctor rose from his bed
and went into the Hospital Yard to make
a sketch. The result was a relapse from
which he did not recover.

         THE CASTLE COLLECTION.

This large collection of oil paintings,
water colour drawingss and sketches
gains much in interest from the fact that it is
the property of Mr. John Sell Cotman, a
great grandson of the famous artist of the
same name, and he has lent the pictures to
the Norwich Castle Museum for a long
period. They are exhibited in two of the
recently converted galleries in which special
lighting has been arranged so that the
colour tones are neither lost nor merged, a
much to be regretted defect of most
artificial lighting.
The work of the great master, John Sell
Cotman, is represented in the collection by
that beautiful oil painting "The Alder
Carr," exhibited at the Cotman Exhibition
in London in 1922. It is a study of grey
and green trees as teen against limpid water
and cool grey skies, a masterpiece of broad
effects in a low tone. Two sepia drawings
of old bridges spanning streams will surely
be reckoned as being the most entirely
satisfying pictures in the collection—the
simplicity of the treatment of the subjects
is John Sell Cotman at his best. In an
entirely different mood is the study of deep
red cattle strung out against a background
of blue Welsh mountains, the starknesb of
which arouses a sense of elemental tumult
in the beholder, a striking contrast to the
sense of peace evoked by the sepia drawings.
Two interior scenes are in this masters own
inimitable stylo and his humour is
illustrated in the pencil sketch, "Symptoms
of the Gout."
Miles Edmund Cotman, the eldest son of
John Sell Cotman, is also represented in
the collection, but as stated at the beginning
of this note it is the surprising quality of
the work of John Joseph Cotman which will
attract visitors to the Exhibition.