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Lot Essay
John Robert Cozens made two journeys across the Alps and to Italy; first in 1776-1779 in the entourage of Richard Payne Knight (1750-1824), and then in 1782-3 with the eccentric and spoiled William Beckford (1760-1844), 'England's wealthiest son'. Beckford was an established friend of Alexander Cozens (1717-1786), and his patronage of his son John Robert followed naturally from that. He had commissioned Italian views from him before they set out together in May 1782, having been hugely impressed by those made for Payne Knight on Cozens’s first tour.
The artist took several sketchbooks with him, and began drawing in earnest when they reached the 'entrance to the Tyrol', as he inscribed his first sketch. The books were to provide him with material for watercolours both during the tour and later in England, and the seven sketchbooks which have survived are now in the Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester. Having crossed the Alps, the travellers emerged from the mountains at Verona, and spent some days exploring the Veneto, then set off south for Rome. Arriving in Naples in early July, they were guests of the British Envoy in Naples, Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), first at his house in Posillipo to the north of the city, and a little later at his casino on the slopes of Vesuvius above Portici. Beckford left to return to England in September, and Cozens travelled on, recording sights requested by Beckford, including the beautiful and ever-changing coastline between Vietri and Salerno depicted in the present drawing.
Of the slight drawings Cozens made during the tour, Beckford chose those which he wanted to be worked up into finished watercolours, many of which were probably executed in England. There are nearly a hundred watercolours in this series, and they are the most intense of Cozens's works, using rich deep blues and stormy blacks, a palette reflecting Beckford's introspective and brooding temperament.
The artist took several sketchbooks with him, and began drawing in earnest when they reached the 'entrance to the Tyrol', as he inscribed his first sketch. The books were to provide him with material for watercolours both during the tour and later in England, and the seven sketchbooks which have survived are now in the Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester. Having crossed the Alps, the travellers emerged from the mountains at Verona, and spent some days exploring the Veneto, then set off south for Rome. Arriving in Naples in early July, they were guests of the British Envoy in Naples, Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), first at his house in Posillipo to the north of the city, and a little later at his casino on the slopes of Vesuvius above Portici. Beckford left to return to England in September, and Cozens travelled on, recording sights requested by Beckford, including the beautiful and ever-changing coastline between Vietri and Salerno depicted in the present drawing.
Of the slight drawings Cozens made during the tour, Beckford chose those which he wanted to be worked up into finished watercolours, many of which were probably executed in England. There are nearly a hundred watercolours in this series, and they are the most intense of Cozens's works, using rich deep blues and stormy blacks, a palette reflecting Beckford's introspective and brooding temperament.