Watercolours & Drawings

There are over 800 watercolours and drawings in the collection, and all but 15 of these are by British artists and date from the 18^th to the 20^th centuries. The drawings by foreign artists are mainly Italian, French and Dutch and date from the 16^th to the19^thcenturies.

The 18^th century is represented mainly by works such as Rowlandson’s Fish market, Amsterdam and Paul Sandby’s View of Windsor Castle. There are portraits and illustrations, such as Blake’s Warring Angels, Romney’s King Lear and the Fool and John Russell’s Miss Harriet Read. Also represented are Edward Dayes, Farington, Gainsborough, Girtin, Hearne, Rooker, Thomas Sandby, Towne and De Wint amongst others.

Some of the highlights by 19^th century artists include works by Browne, Burne-Jones, Cox, Cotman, Glover, Lear, Leighton, Lewis, Prout, Rossetti, Rowbotham, Turner and Varley.

Many 20^th century drawings and watercolours have been purchased in recent decades and some excellent examples acquired by artists such as Frank Auerbach, Edward Bawden, Elizabeth Blackadder, David Bomberg, Edward Burra,  Jacob Epstein, Charles Ginner, Albert Goodwin, Lowry, John Nash, Paul Nash, Philip Wilson Steer, Graham Sutherland and Keith Vaughan.

Some notable examples from Bolton's collection: