Description
This closely observed watercolor was made in Dartmoor—an expanse of moorland in southwest England capped with a series of more than 100 exposed granite hilltops known as "tors," ranging from the monolithic to the nondescript. John White Abbott chose a low vantage point that accentuated the looming immensity of the outcrop in whose shelter a herd of cows has converged. Almost austere in its lack of superfluous detail, this small sheet suggests the untamed quality of the Devon moors.
Provenance
John White Abbott (1763-1851); (sale, Sotheby's, London, November 19, 1981, no. 188) (1981); (Colnaghi & Co., New York, NY) (after 1981-?); Harry and Nina Pollock, Cleveland Heights, OH (?-before 2007); Painting and Drawing Society, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2007); Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2007-)
Accession Number
2005.200
Medium
watercolor with pen and black ink and traces of graphite underdrawing
Dimensions
Image: 16 x 24.7 cm (6 5/16 x 9 3/4 in.); Sheet: 17.9 x 26.9 cm (7 1/16 x 10 9/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Gift of the Painting and Drawing Society of The Cleveland Museum of Art
Tags
Drawing Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Watercolor Ink Graphite & Pencil British
Background & Context
Background Story
John White Abbott (1763-1851) was a British painter known for the precisely observed, atmospherically composed watercolor landscapes that make him one of the accomplished watercolorists of the British tradition. Leigh Tor Rocks at Poundsgate from 1800 depicts the rocks at Leigh Tor near Poundsgate on the River Dart in Devon in the precisely observed, atmospherically composed manner that distinguishes Abbott's best work. The precisely observed, atmospherically composed treatment of the Devon landscape shows the British watercolor tradition at its most accomplished, and the 1800 date places this in the golden age of British watercolor painting.
Cultural Impact
Leigh Tor Rocks at Poundsgate is important in the history of British watercolor painting because it demonstrates the precisely observed, atmospherically composed manner that Abbott brought to the Devon landscape as one of the accomplished watercolorists of the British tradition. Abbott's precisely observed, atmospherically composed watercolor landscapes of Devon—capturing the atmosphere and detail of the English countryside—represent one of the accomplished traditions in British watercolor painting, and the 1800 painting shows this tradition at its most precisely observed.
Why It Matters
Leigh Tor Rocks at Poundsgate is Abbott's precisely observed British watercolor: the Devon landscape rendered in the atmospherically composed manner of one of the accomplished watercolorists of the British tradition. The 1800 painting shows the Devon countryside at its most precisely observed.
