拍品專文
A.P. Oppé opens his survey of the work of Abbott with the view that 'For a moment at the turn of the 18th century Towne's amateur pupil, John White Abbott, obtained a celebrity exceeding that of his master' (see A.P. Oppé, 'John White Abbott of Exeter (1763-1851)', Walpole Society Annual, 1924-5, vol. XIII, p.67). Abbott was a practising surgeon and apothecary for the first half of his life and, on inheriting the estate of Fordland from his uncle James White in 1825, was able to retire and concentrate on his artistic endeavours. Abbott never once sold one of his pictures during his lifetime, though his work was exhibited at the Royal Academy and was well received by his contemporaries and critics.
Abbott was at his best when drawing in monochrome, producing sensitive depictions of light, executed in the delicate pen and ink outline that he mastered under the tuition of Towne. The present drawings can be compared to a drawing of Fordland, dated 'Oct. 14th, 1825', in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated in the Walpole Society Annual op. cit, pl. XXXVII. Oppé considers this drawing among Abbott's best, admiring in particular the intricate mapwork of the trunks and the mosaic of fluttering foliage. Abbott describes many of his similar drawings, as 'painted on the spot'.
Abbott was at his best when drawing in monochrome, producing sensitive depictions of light, executed in the delicate pen and ink outline that he mastered under the tuition of Towne. The present drawings can be compared to a drawing of Fordland, dated 'Oct. 14th, 1825', in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated in the Walpole Society Annual op. cit, pl. XXXVII. Oppé considers this drawing among Abbott's best, admiring in particular the intricate mapwork of the trunks and the mosaic of fluttering foliage. Abbott describes many of his similar drawings, as 'painted on the spot'.