Sketch of Landscape with Cathedral
n.d.
Medium
Graphite on ivory wove card, tipped onto ivory wove card
Dimensions
6.9 × 14.4 cm (2 3/4 × 5 11/16 in.)
Classification
graphite
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
82804
Art Historical Context
John Sell Cotman, a leading figure of the Norwich School of artists in early 19th-century Britain, masterfully captured the English landscape in this intimate graphite sketch. Active from around 1800 to 1830, Cotman was renowned his precise yet evocative drawings, emphasizing direct observation of nature over romantic idealization. Titled *Sketch of Landscape with Cathedral this undated work exemplifies his ability to distill vast scenery into economical lines, blending natural elements like rolling hills and trees with the architectural prominence of a distant cathedral spire. Rendered in gr...
About the Artist
John Sell Cotman · 1782–1842
John Sell Cotman (1782–1842) was one of the most original and technically innovative English watercolorists of his generation, a central figure of the Norwich School whose bold, flattened compositions and luminous washes of color place him among the most modern-feeling of early nineteenth-century British artists. Born in Norwich, Norfolk, Cotman moved to London as a young man and studied in the ci...