Dover Pier, Kent

1828–40

Not on view

Cox's mastery of watercolor is apparent in this small sheet. Brightening light at the the horizon indicates dawn, while a crowd gathered on a pier and distant sails characterize a busy port. Although tiny, the figures are distinguished by a various colors and shapes which contrast with long flat strokes used in the sky and water to suggest calm. Cox was a leader of the Birmingham school and one of the period’s significant watercolorists. He showed mainly at the Society of Painters in Watercolours in London. Initially influenced by Richard Parkes Bonington and John Varley, by the 1830s Cox was known for his distinctive, washy handling developed to depict English country subjects centered on wind and weather. A related subject, "Dover from the Sea," 1831 (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery) with similarly handled washes, suggests a possible date for the present work.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Secondary Titles

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Provenance

Title: Dover Pier, Kent
Artist: David Cox (British, Birmingham 1783–1859 Harborne, near Birmingham)
Date: 1828–40
Medium: Watercolor and gouache (bodycolor) over graphite, with reductive techniques
Dimensions: Sheet: 5 7/8 × 9 3/16 in. (15 × 23.4 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Bequest of James David Draper, 2019
Object Number: 2021.15.22
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By David Cox

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Greenwich Hospital (recto); Study of a Building (verso), David Cox British, Watercolor over graphite (recto); graphite (verso) — Greenwich Hospital (recto); Study of a Building (verso)
David Cox
1820s

Smallsword, Steel, gold, textile, British — Smallsword
British
ca. 1780–1810

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

River Landscape in Wales, David Cox British, Watercolor with touches of gouache (bodycolor) over black chalk on rough paper pasted onto board — River Landscape in Wales
David Cox
ca. 1850

Caricature of a windblown woman on the beach at Rottingdean, Sussex, Sir Edward Burne-Jones British, Black chalk — Caricature of a windblown woman on the beach at Rottingdean, Sussex
Sir Edward Burne-Jones
August 1893

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