John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #7 More Musketeers

This is the seventh in a series of articles that explores a group of works that reflect John Sell Cotman’s ambitions for his artistic life in Norwich. In part 6 we considered a drawing that appeared on the market in March 2021.  He we continue that theme by examining the full troop of musketeers, arquebusiers … Continue reading John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #7 More Musketeers

John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #6 Musketeer after Jacob De Gheyn

This is the sixth in a series of articles that explores a group of works that reflect John Sell Cotman’s ambitions for his artistic life in Norwich. Here we consider a drawing that appeared on the market in March 2021. It dates from the early days of Cotman's second attempt to establish a successful studio … Continue reading John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #6 Musketeer after Jacob De Gheyn

John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #5 Van Dyck Study

This is the fifth article in a series that began three years ago with a rediscovered watercolour of ‘The Student’ by John Sell Cotman. That led to the consideration of several works that embodied ambitions that Cotman had for his artistic life in Norwich, and his eventual disappointment. Here we consider a drawing that appeared … Continue reading John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #5 Van Dyck Study

John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #4

This is the fourth in a series of articles that began with a rediscovered watercolour of ‘The Student’ by John Sell Cotman. That led to an exploration of the ways in which that composition and various re-iterations reflected the ambitions of Cotman’s artistic life in Norwich, and its Rembrandtian collapse. Here we consider a related … Continue reading John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #4

John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #3

This is the third instalment of an article presenting a recently rediscovered watercolour of ‘The Student’ by John Sell Cotman. Part 1 described the discovery and identification of the subject. Part 2 explored some of the related works discovered during my research into the Leeds Art Gallery collection of Cotman drawings. Here I examine some … Continue reading John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #3

John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #2

This is the second instalment of an article presenting a recently rediscovered watercolour of ‘The Student’ by John Sell Cotman. Part 1 described the discovery and identification of the subject, and here I explore some of the related works identified during my research into the Leeds Art Gallery collection of Cotman drawings. The watercolour is related … Continue reading John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #2

John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #1

This is the first instalment of an article presenting a recently rediscovered watercolour by John Sell Cotman. This appeared at auction on 9 December 2014 where it was catalogued as ‘Circle of John Sell Cotman’ and sold under the title of ‘The Student’. At the time of the sale I was just beginning work on … Continue reading John Sell Cotman: A Harbour for the Soul #1