In May 1782, Cozens left England for the continent, employed by William Beckford as draughtsman. The party arrived in Italy via the Tyrol and reached Naples by July. On September 18th, the artist and his patron parted and Cozens moved south to Salerno. A number of views along the Gulf of Salerno occur in his sketchbooks from the journey. A pencil outline drawing inscribed "On the Gulf of Salerno -- near Vietri -- Sept. 27" on page 15 of the third "Beckford" sketchbook, now in the collection of the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, provides the skeleton of this watercolor, which was probably made several years later in England. Other watercolors and sketches of the same stretch of coast are preserved at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven.
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Artwork Details
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Title:On the Gulf of Salerno near Vietri
Artist:John Robert Cozens (British, London 1752–1797 London)
Date:September 1782 or later
Medium:Brush and watercolor over faint traces of graphite
Dimensions:Sheet: 14 7/16 x 20 7/8 in. (36.7 x 53 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1907
Accession Number:07.283.3
Italian Lake Scene
Marking: Stamped in black ink, at lower right of mount: [the collector's mark of John Percy (Lugt 1504)]
William Beckford (British), commissioned the work; his sale at Christie's, London, April 10, 1805, lot 72; bought by Dr. Thomas Monro (British), at the preceding; Christie and Manson, London, June 26, 1833, probably lot 32 [one of four drawings]; Henry Rogers; Christie, Manson & Woods, London, May 21, 1878, lots 148, 149 or 150 [?]; Dr. John Percy (British); his sale at Christie, Manson & Woods, London, April 15, 1890, lot 290; bought by Sir John Charles Robinson (British), at the preceding (with 07.282.4); his sale Christie, Manson & Woods, London, April 21, 1902, probably lot 90 (as by A. Cozens); Vendor: Shepherd Brothers Vendor: Through Roger Eliot Fry (British)
A Catalogue of a Capital and Truly Valuable Collection of Original High-Finished Drawings, The Whole Executed by That Eminent Artists, The Younger Cozens, During A Tour through the Tyrol and Italy, in Company of an Amateur of Distinguished Taste [William Beckford]. Sale cat. Christie's, London. April 10, 1805, lot 72, p. 6.
A catalogue of the very capital collection of drawings, of that well-known and intelligent collector; Dr. Monro, deceased. [...] Sale cat. Christie & Manson, London. June 26, 1833, lot 32 [?], p. 30.
Catalogue of the collection of pictures and drawings, [...] of Henry Rogers, Esq. [...] Sale cat. Christie, Manson & Woods, London. May 21, 1878, lot 148, 149 or 150 [?], p. 11.
Catalogue of the Very Extensive and Valuable Collection of Water-colour Drawings of Dr. John Percy, F.R.S., deceased, late of Gloucester Crescent, Hyde-Park...[first day's sale] Sale cat. Christie's, London. April 15, 1890, lot 290, p. 15 (J. Cozens, "Bay of Salerno"; bought for £5.10 with lot 289, J. Cozens, "Hamilton's Villa, Portici").
A Catalogue of Drawings of the English School, in Watercolour, Sepia, Charcoal, Pen-and-ink, and Pencil, the Property of Sir John Charles Robinson... Sale cat. Christie's, London. April 21, 1902, probably lot 90, p. 9, framed (as Alexander Cozens, "A Mountainous Landscape, with buildings").
Roger Eliot Fry "Drawings." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 2, no. 12, (December 1907), fig. 2, p. 201, ill.
Charles Francis Bell, Thomas Girtin "The Drawings and Sketches of John Robert Cozens: A Catalogue with an Historical Introduction." Walpole Society. 23, (1934–35), no. 274.
A. Hyatt Mayor "A Modern Artist of the Eighteenth Century." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 12, no. 4, (December 1953), p. 101, ill.
Felice Stampfle Landscape Drawings and Water-colors, Bruegel to Cézanne. Exh. cat. New York: The Morgan Library & Museum. New York: The Morgan Library & Museum, 1953, no. 87, p. 29, ill.
Jacob Bean 100 European Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: New York Graphic Society, 1964, no. 99, ill.
"Drawings from the Roger Fry Purchase." Apollo. 82, (September 1965), fig. 6, p. 248, ill.
Janet S. Byrne, Linda Boyer Gillies English Landscape Artists. Exh. brochure, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1971, no. 6, p. 2.
Watercolours by John Robert Cozens. Exh. cat. Manchester: Whitworth Art Gallery; London: Victoria & Albert Museum. Manchester: University of Manchester, 1971, no. 59, p. 26.
Kim Sloan Alexander and John Robert Cozens: The Poetry of Landscape. 1986, p. 147.
Charles Nugent British Watercolours in the Whitworth Art Gallery, the University of Manchester. A Summary Catalogue. London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 2002, p. 88 comparative work "On the Gulf of Salerno, near Vietri, Italy".
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