Aquatint, ink on paper

Why we acquired this work

When The Herbert began to collect art for Coventry in the 1950s, one area was chosen to be Warwickshire Watercolours. Most of the works purchased were indeed watercolour views of the county surrounding the city of Coventry. A few works in other media, gouache and oils, but particularly prints such as these, were collected to go with this collection where appropriate.

The Subject

Warwick Castle was a prime stop-off on any of tour of Britain for artists and young gentlemen of the period. Gentlemen, if not making the Grand Tour of Europe, then must at least make an educational tour more locally.

Then, as now, Warwick Castle was not a ruin, and Sandby's work is part of an English tradition of recording the houses of the nobility and other notable buildings such as churches and bridges, rather a meditation on ruins.

The Artist

Paul Sandby and his brother Thomas were first employed in the Tower of London Drawing Office to make accurate views for military purposes. One account says that Paul used a camera obscura, a light box to draw on, to obtain these accurate views.

The castle owner's brother actually passed on details of a hitherto secret method of printmaking to Paul Sandby which enabled him to make these attractive copies of his views of the castle.

The Place of Paul Sandby in Art

The artist has been described as 'the father of modern landscape painting in watercolours'. This is too great a claim, but as one of the founder-members of the Royal Academy, and as an artist who raised the status of watercolour painting to compare with oil painting, he is important. He is also introduced into art the process of aquatint printmaking which, before the days of photography, allowed many people to enjoy views almost as finely shaded as watercolours.

Other works by the artist in The Herbert

The Herbert holds three more from this series of aquatints:

Warwick Castle from Lodge Hill, No. 1

Caesar's Tower and part of Warwick Castle from the Island. No. 3

Part of Warwick Castle from the SE, No. 4