Foreword by Robert Worby, 2026

Russell Worby (1954-2025) – my late brother – was a working artist and a collector of 18th and 19th Century drawings and watercolours. He bought carefully, with an informed and learned eye, hunting through auctions and sales catalogues for a fine picture. His collection grew slowly but steadily so that eventually it included works by the key names: David Cox, Edward Dayes, Anthony Devis, Thomas Rowlandson, Paul Sandby, John Varley and selection of other fascinating names from the great age of British watercolours. He admired Anthony Devis because “he did lots of drawing”, as did Russell. He was intrigued by Paul Sandby’s draughtsmanship and what that brought to landscape painting. And the sense of drama that Varley painted outdoors, matched by the intimacy he gave to subjects indoors, drew Russell’s eye. These artists, and others presented here, gave him great pleasure and filled him with the mysteries of depicting the world using simple materials.

The Development of English Watercolours

Until the second half of the 18th century, watercolour landscape painting was linked to survey and topographical delineation, the drawing of ‘correct views of abbeys, castles, ancient towns, and noblemen’s seats’. The medium was greatly advanced by Paul Sandby (Lots 202 and 203) who is often called ‘the father of modern landscape painting in watercolours’. Although trained as a military draftsman, his interpretative genius and eye for human incident resulted in his figures being more than mere staffage, instead they were key components, engaged in anecdotally interesting actions. Sandby was one of the artists campaigning for a public exhibiting body to raise the status of watercolour painters, he was the founder of the Society of Artists in 1760 and a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768. The diarist Joseph Farington (Lot 200) was also a talented watercolourist, he became a member of the Society of Artists in 1765. He joined the Royal Academy when it was founded in 1769 being elected a full member in 1785.

In Search of The Picturesque

Many of Sandby’s contemporaries were swept up in the cult of the picturesque, and watercolour became the preferred medium for this movement. Edmund Burke’s ideas of the ‘Sublime’ (published in 1757) were significant, as wild landscapes and natural phenomena were often the source of sublime emotion. The cult of the Picturesque developed from this late in the century and the Reverend William Gilpin’s series of publications on the Picturesque from 1782 provided focus and impetus to the importance of landscape subjects in art. Portable pigments, pocket-sized sketchbooks, and lightweight brushes allowed both professional artists and wealthy tourists to paint en plein air. Artists and travellers explored rugged regions like North Wales (Edward Dayes, Lot 201, John ‘Warwick’ Smith, Lots 204 & 205), the Peak District (William Day, Lot 209, James Ward, Lot 213) the Lake District, the Scottish as well as Highlands, and the Wye Valley, drawn by ruins and rustic scenes that would look agreeable in a picture, (Lots 210 and 211).

18th Century Satirists

The 18th Century saw a burgeoning of satire, with writers and artists alike employing humour and irony to draw attention and emphasise the excesses and unfairness inherent in society at the time. Artists including William Hogarth, James Gillray, Thomas Rowlandson (Lot 218) and George Dance (Lots 216 and 217), all used humour in their paintings, drawings and prints, to highlight 18th Century society, from gently amusing social subjects to more serious excesses of political, social and moral corruption, as well as to challenge the existing social order.

The Golden Age of English Watercolours

Landscape watercolour artists at the turn of the 18th century gathered themselves into a number of groups ranging from informal sketching parties to organised societies, painting was undertaken in a community atmosphere between teachers, pupils, patrons, artists and friends, all of which served to encourage and grow the popularity of the medium. Examples of gatherings include Dr Thomas Monro’s ‘Academy’ where famously Turner and Girtin worked together, alongside John Henderson (Lot 223) but also the Sketching Society founded in 1799 (Lot 226) of whom John Varley (Lots 219 and 237) was a member. The first decade of the 19th Century saw flourishing of the Golden Age of British Watercolour and the emergence of many of the giants who epitomise the great Age of English watercolours- Cotman, Cox, de Wint, T.S. Boys, William Callow and Prout. Often watercolours were hung unfavourably in exhibitions at the Royal Academy and this provided theimpetus for the first formal society, the Society of Painters in Water-Colour or the ‘Old’ Watercolour Society (O.W.S) founded in 1804. The Society created a market for watercolour as a great medium in its own right. Other artists such as Robert Hills (Lot 239) and George Arthur Fripp (Lots 240 and 240A) were regular exhibitors.

These artists achieved a mastery of the medium in their ability to capture the fleeting effects of light, weather and atmosphere, which elevated them above many of their contemporaries. Travel abroad opened up further possibilities and T.S. Boys (Lot 249) and Callow (222, 245 and 248) came under the influence of the hero of the romantic movement Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-1828) in Paris and many others ventured on tours to Europe. The most successful artists, such as David Cox enjoyed a freedom of expression towards the end of his career which many have seen as foreshadowing Impressionism.

Auction Highlights

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Auction Details

Wednesday 4 November, 10.30am GMT
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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Viewing at Dreweatts London (highlights): 16-17 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5LU
Monday 26 October: 10am-4pm
Tuesday 27 October: 10am-7pm
Wednesday 28 October: 10am-4pm

Viewing at Dreweatts Newbury (full sale): Donnington Priory, RG14 2JE
Saturday 31 October: 10am-3pm
Sunday 1 November: 10am-3pm
Monday 2 November: 10am-4pm

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