Pencil and watercolour on paper

Why we acquired this work

Bequeathed by R. Edward S. Willison, 1984. Edward Willison attended Henry VIII school here and was a solicitor in Coventry for some years. He began collecting at an early age, selecting watercolours which pleased him. He did not seek great names but quality. In the event his taste led him to collect works by the greatest artists, ranging in date from the 17th to the 20th centuries.

This was one of four pieces chosen from his estate by The Herbert for our watercolour collections. When the opportunity arises to acquire watercolours by gift or bequest, the Herbert is pleased to receive such works to hang beside our Turners of Florence and Margate.

The subject

Hanover is both a city and a district in Germany. We might dismiss the idea that this could show the city., but in the eighteenth century this was an economically backward rural area, with no industry, little commerce and nine out of ten people living in the countryside. Views which are known to show the city appear as rural as this view.

This was probably painted on the spot. John Laporte painted in oil, in gouache (opaque watercolour) and 'true' watercolour as here. His oil paintings are the most 'finished' works. Watercolours like the current example would be studies from life, in front of the scene. He would then 'work these up' in the studio into finished gouaches or oils.

The artist

John Laporte is believed to have been born in 1761 to a French family in Dublin. In 1779 he studied watercolour painting under J.M. Barralet, an Irish artist who made views in the south of England. That same year Laporte first had a painting accepted for exhibition in London, and he became a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy.

In 1808 he was a founder member of the short-lived Association of Artists in Watercolours. Around the same time, along with W.F. Wells, another pupil of Barralet, he taught art at Addiscome Military College. A number of early artists were recruited to teach the army to draw, this in the days before it was possible to take a photograph of the enemy's fortifications.

He is most famous for painting in gouache but he was also a fine painter in both oil and true watercolour.

He was a drawing master, and one amateur artist he taught was Dr. John Monro, who in turn taught Girtin and Turner. In 1798, the date of this work, Laporte produced a booklet entitled 'The Character of Trees'.

Related works

The other works which The Herbert received as part of the R. Edward S. Willison bequest are:

River Landscape with Farmhouse, a charcoal and grey wash scene on coarse paper by Dr. Thomas Monro (1759 to 1833)

Ladders and Outbuildings ('Ruined Church and Farm'), a grey ink wash and pencil drawing on paper attributed to Joseph Barber (1757 to 1811)

Study of an old building, a pencil and wash drawing on paper by C. John Mayle Whichelo (1784 to 1865)