Paul Mellon (1907--1999) assembled one of the world’s greatest collections of British drawings and watercolors. In his memoirs he wrote of their “beauty and freshness… their immediacy and sureness of technique, their comprehensiveness of subject matter, their vital qualities, their Englishness.” This catalogue celebrating the centenary of Mellon's birth features eighty-eight outstanding watercolors from the fifty thousand works of art on paper with which he endowed the Yale Center for British Art. The selection spans the emergence of watercolor painting in the mid-18th century to its apogee in the mid-19th. These works highlight the diversity of British watercolors, showcasing both landscape and figurative works by some of the principal artists working in the medium, including Thomas Gainsborough, Thomas Rowlandson, William Blake, and J. M.W. Turner.

The revolution in watercolours of the later eighteenth century and its Victorian aftermath is acknowledged to be one of the greatest triumphs of British art. Its effect was to transform the modest tinted drawing of the topographer into a powerful and highly flexible means of expression for some of the Romantic era's greatest artists, among them Thomas Girtin, J.M.W. Turner and John Constable. The painters of the next generation were no less ambitious, and the range of subject-matter and technical inventiveness that was sustained for much of the Victorian period was to set a standard in watercolour painting that was without equal abroad. In this magnificently illustrated survey of the great age of British watercolours, Andrew Wilton and Anne Lyles trace the development of attitudes to landscape and to the human figure in the landscape from 1750 to 1880. They show how once the traditional pen and ink drawing and its augmented washes of colour had been abandoned in order to paint directly in watercolours without pen outlines, the way was open for the powerful Romantic landscapes of the following decade and beyond, many of which were painted in the wild mountainous regions of Wales and Scotland. During the nineteenth century, as the gilt-framed exhibition watercolour began to challenge the long-established oil painting in terms of size and in brilliance of colour and effect, the range of subject-matter was broadened to include scenes of country and town life from every part of Britain and, increasingly, from the Continent too. By mid-century the Near East was attracting many of the greatest Victorian watercolourists, including J. E. Lewis, David Roberts and Edward Lear. Other leadingVictorians who regularly worked in watercolour include the Pre-Raphaelite painters John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt, and the American-born James McNeill Whistler, all of whom are included in this book.

A fresh perspective on British landscape drawing in the Victorian and Modern eras. The attempts by artists of the Victorian and early Modern period to convey not merely the physical properties of a landscape but also its emotional and spiritual impact - landscape as 'places of the mind', as the critic Geoffrey Grigson put it - is the focus of this fascinating new study of British watercolours produced between 1850 and 1950. Drawing on the British Museum's impressive collection, this book explores artists' spiritual quests to capture the essence of landscape and convey a sense of place. Artists of the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries drew on earlier traditions but developed and extended the genre through their imaginative, personal responses to the artistic, cultural and social upheavals of the time. The book includes works by Victorian artists Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Poynter and by many well known twentieth-century artists, such as John and Paul Nash, Ben Nicholson and Henry Moore, some of which have never previously been published.

"Paul Mellon (1907-1999) assembled one of the world’s greatest collections of British drawings and watercolors.... This catalogue celebrates the centenary of Mellon's birth and features eighty-eight outstanding watercolors from the fifty thousand works of art on paper with which he endowed the Yale Center for British Art. The selection spans the emergence of watercolor painting in the mid-18th century to its apogee in the mid-19th. These works highlight the diversity of British watercolors, showcasing both landscape and figurative works by some of the principal artists working in the medium, including Thomas Gainsborough, Thomas Rowlandson, William Blake, and J. M. W. Turner"--Publisher's description.

JMW Turner is one of the greatest artists Britain has ever produced. His watercolours, with their extraordinary effects of shifting light and dramatic skyscapes, are especially highly regarded. For the first time, the secrets of Turner's technique are revealed, allowing present-day watercolourists to learn from his achievements.This book combines unrivalled knowledge of Turner's working methods from Tate curators and conservators with practical advice from some of the world's most respected watercolour experts. Twenty-two thematic exercises are illustrated with Turner's works. Expert contemporary watercolourists explain, step-by-step, how to paint a similar composition, learning from Turner's techniques. Packed with invaluable information, from the materials Turner used to achieve the masterpieces we know and love today, to the modern materials the twenty-first-century watercolour artist will need.Backed by the authority of Tate, the world centre for Turner scholarship, with a glossary of technical terms, this is an invaluable resource both for lovers of Turner's art and of watercolour painting.

The Artist in Time brings together twenty creatives from across the UK, with photographs and interviews that disclose their daily working habits and motivations. All born before 1950, this is a collective portrait of a generation who have shaped our artistic landscape. They provide a range of different answers to the question 'what makes an artist?', and a set of insights into what makes up a creative life. Giving the reader access to the studio and working spaces of a diverse group of painters, poets, choreographers, filmmakers, illustrators, musicians, photographers, sculptors, writers and creators, The Artist in Time is a handbook for creativity and inspiration, made up of artists from all backgrounds who have all in their own way shaped, and continue to shape, the creative landscape of the United Kingdom.

Enjoy the meditative art of watercolor with simple supplies, forty colorful illustrated lessons, and easy step-by-step instructions! For a soothing boost of creativity and whimsy, try your hand at watercolor. With a few simple steps, anyone can discover their artistic side and achieve moments of peace and tranquility. Forty straightforward lessons promise fun and colorful results -- no pressure and no skill required. This simple painting medium produces colorful, modern paintings to adorn invitations, gifts, and walls. The forty lessons cover useful topics like: Painting on vacation Painting your pets Layering colors Mixing colors Painting flowers and plants The supplies are simple: a basic palette of watercolors, a selection of brushes, and nice thick paper will do the job. Your bright, whimsical art is guaranteed to bring color to any gray day. It's never too late to pick up a new hobby -- start painting your own beautiful cards and artwork today!

This is an illustrated survey of watercolour painting from 1750 to the present day, including the finest examples of work by Sandby, Cozens, Girtin, Turner, Rowlandson, Cotman, De Wint, Constable, Blake, Palmer, Prout, Rossetti, Whistler and many other famous and not so famous artists, with full notes on each. The author relates the English School to earlier continental artists and sums up the special characteristics and achievements of each artist. He has written twenty books including Victorian Painting, Constable, The Natural Painter and Turner and has won the Mitchell Prize for the History of Art for his catalogue raisonne on The Later Paintings and Drawings of Constable.

Turner's daringly loose brushwork and dazzling colors shine in his watercolors J.M.W. Turner, one of Britain's greatest painters, is perhaps known best for his oil paintings. But he was a lifelong watercolorist, and he fundamentally reshaped what would be understood as possible within the medium, both during his lifetime and after. Edited in partnership with Tate Britain, where the majority of the artist's works are conserved, Conversations with Turner: The Watercolorsis published on the occasion of a major exhibition spanning the entirety of Turner's career. Divided into six thematic sections, it focuses on the critical role played by watercolors in defining Turner's personal style. The book brings together texts by prominent scholars of Turner's art, including the art historians and curators Tim Barringer, Alexander Nemerov, Oliver Meslay and Susan Grace Galassi. Comprised of 100 works (all of which are reproduced in this volume), the exhibition was selected from upward of 30,000 works on paper, 300 oil paintings, and 280 sketchbooks donated after the artist's death in 1851, as part of the collection known as the "Turner Bequest." Turner's innovations in watercolor are illustrated in this book through an emphasis on landscapes and seascapes, many of which were painted during Turner's long stays abroad in continental Europe and beyond. The works showcase the development of Turner's stylistic language, focused on experimentation with the expressive potential of light and color, which anticipated trends in late-19th-century painting. J.M.W. Turner(1775-1851) was a controversial figure throughout his career, despite being championed by Ruskin and having played a key role in the elevation of pure landscape painting as a genre, which he took to unprecedented levels of abstraction. He traveled widely in Europe, starting with France and Switzerland in 1802 and studying in the Louvre in Paris in the same year, and later making many visits to Venice.

Develop your watercolor skills one painting at a time!Are you a watercolor painter newbie? Have you dabbled in watercolors but wish your paintings looked more polished? Well, it's time to remedy that! Learn to Paint in Watercolor is the patient watercolor instructor you've been waiting for. This unique how-to book offers all you need to know about watercolor painting - perfect for first-time painters or anyone interested in refining their skills. Treat the book as an in-depth class on this medium. With each lesson, you'll be privy to a new watercolor technique or subject. Readers will move through the book subject by subject, course by course, painting all along the way. By the time you reach the end, you'll have fifty paintings showcasing your steady progress. You'll start by painting objects that are important to you and then move on to exploring your immediate environment. By the end of the book, your paintings will start to tell your own story, giving you the confidence to continue painting and discovering watercolors' myriad possibilities. Techniques are introduced throughout the book's projects, from using a simple color wash to learning about ink techniques or letting go with loose, free watercolors. At the same time, concepts such as properties of light (vital for watercolorists) give a solid foundation on which to work.