拍品專文
Towne left Rome for England in August, 1781, in the company of John 'Warwick' Smith. Though the confusing dating of some of Towne's work at this time has rendered his precise itinerary unclear, he seems to have been at Lake Lugano on 24th August, visiting Lake Como a few days later, before heading north over the Splügen Pass to reach Wallenstadt by 1st September. Towner made the present drawing a day later during four days spent sketching in the canton of Glaris as he travelled via Lausanne to Geneva. On 17th, at the foot of Mont Blanc, Towne created his masterpiece, the larger 'Source of the Aveyron' (Victorian and Albert Museum).
Towne made three series of sketches during his month in Switzerland - over seventy drawing in all: two sketchbooks were used concurrently, the smaller 6 1/8 x 8½in. with drawings numbered from 16 to 59; the larger 11¼ x 18½in. and numbered to 29; and a series, on paper 9¾ x 12½in., begun slightly later when Towne had reached Lausanne, and numbered to at least 11 (drawings from this series are in the Fitzwilliam Musuem).
The drawing of Lake Klöntal is number 26 of the large series. In contrast to many of the smaller drawing, which Towne worked up with intense and emphatic watercolours, the large drawings employ a much more restricted palette. In this instance Towne has used a monochromatic scheme to detail the austere calm of the valley. Noticeable too is the omission of a pen and ink cloud outline, so relaxing the severity of the linear patterns that distinguish much of Towne's Swiss work.
William Jackson wrote to Ozias Humphrey in London on Towne's return home 'You tell me to expect much from his drawings which must be doubly valuable from the Places they represent' (Royal Academy Libary, Humphrey Correspondence, II, no. 121). Towne exhibited two views 'Near Glaris' in his 1805 exhibition in Lower Brook Street (nos. 100, 108), though not the present drawing, which remained unmounted and was probably used to show to patrons
Towne made three series of sketches during his month in Switzerland - over seventy drawing in all: two sketchbooks were used concurrently, the smaller 6 1/8 x 8½in. with drawings numbered from 16 to 59; the larger 11¼ x 18½in. and numbered to 29; and a series, on paper 9¾ x 12½in., begun slightly later when Towne had reached Lausanne, and numbered to at least 11 (drawings from this series are in the Fitzwilliam Musuem).
The drawing of Lake Klöntal is number 26 of the large series. In contrast to many of the smaller drawing, which Towne worked up with intense and emphatic watercolours, the large drawings employ a much more restricted palette. In this instance Towne has used a monochromatic scheme to detail the austere calm of the valley. Noticeable too is the omission of a pen and ink cloud outline, so relaxing the severity of the linear patterns that distinguish much of Towne's Swiss work.
William Jackson wrote to Ozias Humphrey in London on Towne's return home 'You tell me to expect much from his drawings which must be doubly valuable from the Places they represent' (Royal Academy Libary, Humphrey Correspondence, II, no. 121). Towne exhibited two views 'Near Glaris' in his 1805 exhibition in Lower Brook Street (nos. 100, 108), though not the present drawing, which remained unmounted and was probably used to show to patrons