Gainsborough to Ruskin

From 1752, Sandby lived in London and Windsor with his brother, Thomas, who was involved in landscaping the duke of Cumberland's estates at Windsor Great Park. Sandby exhibited his first view of Windsor Castle in 1763, and Windsor subjects were a prominent part of his exhibited work from then on.

De Wint found his greatest inspiration in England, where he traveled extensively. This quiet scene confirms his appreciation for his native countryside. Under the influence of John Varley, he worked en plein air, creating the sense of immediacy we find in the watercolor depicting the Fen district.

Streatfeild joined the navy at the age of thirteen, attaining the rank of commander by the end of the Napoleonic Wars. As a naval officer he received instruction in draftsmanship for the purposes of preparing charts and keeping up the log book. He also would have been required to draw views of ports and fortifications for tactical purposes. About 1830 he began to travel around Europe, visiting France, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland. In 1842 he made a presentation album for the grand duchess Matilde of Hesse Darmstadt, composed chiefly of views around the principality.

The brothers Samuel and Nathaniel Buck created many drawings of architectural sites and antiquities in England and Wales, which they engraved and published. This drawing of Arundel Castle was preparatory for their engraving, which appeared as plate six in the twelfth set of The Most Remarkable Remains of Abbeys, Castles, etc to be found, published in 1737.

In 1838 Samuel Palmer spent several weeks at the "inexhaustible" Villa d'Este, "enchantment itself." Whereas earlier visitors had commented on the statuary and waterworks in these gardens, Palmer was most taken with the trees. "You must wonder at our staying so long in Tivoli, but you would not wonder if you saw it—I have got a finished study of pines and cypresses—the latter 300 years old and wonderfully fine." Palmer returned to England determined to paint "Poetic Landscape . . .

In 1801 Prout was employed by the antiquary John Britton to create drawings for his comprehensive Beauties of England and Wales. Through determined study, Prout overcame the problems of drawing architecture that initially had defeated him. His success is apparent in this fine drawing of Bamberg.

Marshal Louis Berthier was chief of staff for Emperor Napoleon. After the abdication he switched allegiance to the monarchy. Retired to his estate in Bamberg, he fell to death from a window.

This is an example of Prout's exceptional topographic draftsmanship. The artist first traveled to Germany in the early 1820s; he reproduced many of his drawings as lithographs in Illustrations of the Rhine, 1824, and Facsimiles of Sketches Made in Flanders and Germany, 1833.

Dibdin was a son of the dramatist Thomas Dibdin and grandson of the dramatist/composer Charles Dibdin, who was also a talented amateur painter. He is known to have exhibited landscape and architectural subjects at both the Royal Academy and the Society of British Artists from 1831 to 1839. In 1848 he published a work entitled Progressive Lessons in Water Colour Painting.

Daniell traveled in India with his nephew William (1769–1837) between 1785 and 1794, recording picturesque landscape and architectural views for eventual publication. This drawing is a study for aquatint no. 15 in part I of William and Thomas Daniell's Oriental Scenery, published in London between 1795 and 1797 (subsequent parts, 6 volumes in all, with 144 color plates, were published until 1808).

This drawing is yet another example of Gainsborough's technique in wash and oil and must also date from the 1770s. The coat of varnish used to fix the drawing has yellowed, giving a golden tone to the work.