(Above) John Sell Cotman, Mont St Michael (1829). © Laing Art Gallery (Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums)
Exhibition: Watercolour in Britain: Travelling With Colour, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Norwich, until April 18 2010
Watercolour in Britain's manifesto sounds simple enough: British art is not a fantasy. Curators from Tate Britain, Norwich Castle, the Millennium Galleries and the Laing have joined forces in singling out a rarely seen diversity of subject matter, which explores what Britishness is.
Nicolas Pocock's 1791 Dixton Church, near Monmouth-on-the-Wye, starts off this lazy afternoon voyage through British watercolour with great softness and a fluid, effortless quality of brushwork.
A subsequent rural bliss is produced by Norfolk's greatest master, John Sell Cotman. Though based outside the county, his depictive travel diary, 1829's Mont St Michel, is an ageless gem.
JMW Turner, Sunset: A Fish Market on the Beach (circa 1835). © Tate, London 2009
One of the founders of English watercolor landscape, JMW Turner's life has been a piece of art in itself. Its eccentricity comes under careful scrutiny in The Fifth Plague of Egypt, Priamar on the French Riviera and Geneva. The magical combination of gouache and watercolour conveys the most subtle impressions and dramatic force of the storyline.
It might be a trick of light on the watercolour or just David Cox's luck, but the everyday scene in Waiting for the Ferry Board is full of poetry and significance. His economical use of forms explores the open sky in a wonderous search for blending clouds, shades and fascinating nuances.
John Singer Sargent's Miss Eliza Wedgewood and Miss Sargent Sketching (1908) captures fleeting effects of light and weather. In this vibrant painting, Sargent uses quick-drying washes to portray his sister and her companion with delicate lines and flourishing brushstrokes.
David Cox, Waiting for the Ferry Boat (circa 1835). © Tate, London 2009
In contrast, Edward Burra's Wake, painted 30 years later, sets up a spine-chilling scene of the darkening political situation, with Civil War being waged in Spain and the invasion of the Nazis.
As art marks time and time spirals forward in overlapping cycles, this strange and evocative painting also has to say a lot about the world of today.
The exhibition finally goes back to basics, rejoicing in Graham Sutherland's sketches of South Welsh steel Furnaces and walking through Norwich Market Place in John Piper's 1950 work.
Watercolour in Britain also investigates the use of watercolour as a tool in the production of other art forms through preparatory sketches by sculptors such as Henry Moore, Norfolk's Bernard Meadows and Anish Kapoor.
John Singer Sargent, Miss Eliza Wedgewood and Miss Sargent Sketching (1908). © Tate, London 2009
The translucent quality of watercolour enables Kapoor's Unknown to capture the mysterious workings of mind and body. "What I'm trying to do is make a picture of the interior of me," comments Kapoor.
Travelling With Watercolour is a visual discussion of the history and concept of modern Britain in breadth. If you're still unsure what Britishness is, you might consider marching up to the castle and even having a go at painting your own watercolour.
Tours to Millennium Gallery, Sheffield (June 17 – September 5 2010), Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle (September 18 – December 5 2010) and Tate Britain, London ( February 15 – August 14 2011). Exhibition focuses on different aspects of watercolour painting in Britain at each venue.
Ivan Stoyanov is the Culture24/Norwich HEART Student Bursary Writer in Norwich. Norwich Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust(HEART) is the groundbreaking initiative to regenerate, manage and promote one of the most remarkable heritage resources in the UK and in Europe.
