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Lot Essay
Called Slingsby Castle, Yorkshire, when it was exhibited in Birmingham in 1934, the subject is not of Slingsby but of an as yet unidentified tower. Indeed it may well be a landscape of the artist's imagination, formulated from similar structures and incorporating both Romanesque and later Gothic elements.
Cotman was clearly intrigued by the monumentality of large architectural structures, dominating their surroundings. In 1804, he painted York: the Water Tower where the tower soars over the landscape and in 1807, he painted The Cow Tower, Norwich. In both the treatment is romantic, and even in the later work which depicts a squat and rather unattractive structure, his sophisticated handling somehow softens itsungainly qualities.
The numbering on the present work suggests that it was part of Cotman's 'Circulating Collection of Drawings', a portfolio of drawings which Cotman delivered twice weekly to paying pupils for them to copy. The first Collection of 600 drawings was advertised in 1809 with the aim of increasing his circle of pupils.
Cotman was clearly intrigued by the monumentality of large architectural structures, dominating their surroundings. In 1804, he painted York: the Water Tower where the tower soars over the landscape and in 1807, he painted The Cow Tower, Norwich. In both the treatment is romantic, and even in the later work which depicts a squat and rather unattractive structure, his sophisticated handling somehow softens itsungainly qualities.
The numbering on the present work suggests that it was part of Cotman's 'Circulating Collection of Drawings', a portfolio of drawings which Cotman delivered twice weekly to paying pupils for them to copy. The first Collection of 600 drawings was advertised in 1809 with the aim of increasing his circle of pupils.