George Vicat Cole RA (1833-1893) - 1869 Watercolour English Country River

Description

A picturesque watercolour by the well-regarded Victorian artist George Vicat Cole RA (1833-1893). A slow-moving river lined with rushes flows from the middle-distance to the foreground. Cows can be seen drinking from the riverbank with cottages and a church tower visible in the background. Presented glazed in a wash line mount and a distressed gilt-effect wooden frame. Monogrammed and dated to the lower-right corner. On wove.

Condition

The condition is typical for a picture of this age including some discolouration. There are some small chips to the edges of the frame. Overall in good condition.

Size

47.2 x 33.2cm (18.6" x 13.1")
Framed Size: 66.6 x 52.7cm (26.2" x 20.7")

Artist Biography

George Vicat Cole RA (1833-1893) was an English painter. Cole was born in Portsmouth, the son of the landscape painter George Cole (1810-1883) who tasked his son with copying the works of Constable, Turner, Cox, and most importantly the natural world around him. At just eighteen Cole had paintings accepted for exhibition at the British Institution, the Society of British Artists, and the Suffolk Street Gallery. A year later in 1852 he first exhibited at the Royal Academy. During his career, he exhibited seventy-six times at the Royal Academy, ten times at the British Institution, forty-eight times at the Society of British Artists, and five times at various other exhibitions. In 1859 he was elected a member of the Society of British Artists. He was elected as an associate of the Royal Academy in 1870 and became an Academician ten years later. The wide popularity of his work was due to the artist's great delicacy of colour, his sure and confident touch, and the sense of feeling with which he painted. Most of his subjects were found in the counties of Surrey and Sussex and along the banks of the Thames. One of his largest pictures, 'The Pool of London', was bought by the Chantrey Fund Trustees in 1888 and was shown in the Tate Gallery. He was the father of the painter Rex Vicat Cole and may have been related to the society portraitist Philip Tennyson Cole. His daughter Mary Blanche Cole (1858-1945), also an artist, married the artist Louis Paul (Alexander Louis Paul 1855-1927). Cole died in London on 6 April 1893 and his studio sale took place at Christie's on 16 June 1893. His works are in the collections of Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, National Museum Cardiff, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.