128 - John Varley, OWS,

John Varley, OWS, British 1778-1842- Carisbrooke Castle from the Mill Dam; pencil and watercolour heightened with gum arabic on paper, 58 x 82.6 cm. Provenance: Anon. sale, Sotheby's, London, 10 July 1980, lot 115. with Thomas Agnew & Sons Ltd., London [no. 43282]. Note: Varley was a prolific watercolourist and a close friend of William Blake (1757-1827). He was an influential figure in the development of watercolour painting in Britain, as one of the founders of the 'Old Watercolour Society' in 1805, and also instructed a number of significant watercolourists in the generation to follow, including John Linnell (1792-1882), David Cox (1783-1859), Copley Fielding (1787-1855), and William Turner of Oxford (1789-1862). The present work is typical of Varley's expansive Welsh view, including that of Moel Hebog, which sold at Sotheby's, London, on 6 June 2007, lot 232 (£6,240), and another depicting Llyn Padarn which sold at Bonhams, London, on 8 June 2004, lot 26 (£5,500 hammer).