Château de Lourdes

July 11, 1836

Not on view

On June 6, 1836, the twenty-four year old Callow set out from Paris on a two-month walking tour. By early July, he reached the Hautes Pyrénées, and would spend three days around Lourdes, reveling in the wild mountain scenery–at that time, the small town was dominated by a medieval fortress and not yet associated with miraculous healing. Copley Fielding had encouraged Callow’s early talent for watercolor in London and, after the young artist moved to Paris in 1829 to work for Newton Fielding, he became friends with Thomas Shotter Boys and developed a style indebted to Richard Parkes Bonington. This sketch, made on site, demonstrates the artist’s early style characterized by calligraphic lines and luminous washes.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Château de Lourdes
Artist: William Callow (British, Greenwich 1812–1908 Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire)
Date: July 11, 1836
Medium: Watercolor over graphite, white gouache (bodycolor)
Dimensions: Sheet: 5 1/8 in. × 9 in. (13 × 22.9 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Roberta J.M. Olson and Alexander B.V. Johnson, 2017
Object Number: 2017.663.2
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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By William Callow

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Caesar's Tower, Warwick Castle, William Callow British, Watercolor and touches of gouache (bodycolor) over graphite — Caesar's Tower, Warwick Castle
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On the Wharfe, Bolton Abbey, William Callow British, Watercolor — On the Wharfe, Bolton Abbey
William Callow
September 30, 1858

The Lake of Zug, Joseph Mallord William Turner British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) with reductive techniques over graphite — The Lake of Zug
Joseph Mallord William Turner
1843

Sabrina, Samuel Palmer British, Watercolor and gouache (bodycolor) over graphite, with reductive techniques, shell gold and gum arabic — Sabrina
Samuel Palmer
1856

Virgil's Tomb with a View of the Bay of Naples in the Moonlight, Carl Georg Anton Graeb German, Graphite, white gouache, and pen and brown ink (?) — Virgil's Tomb with a View of the Bay of Naples in the Moonlight
Carl Georg Anton Graeb
1860–84

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