- From The Collection Of
- Admiral Digby Museum
- Accession Number
- 2010.22.2
- Discipline
- Humanities
- Artist / Manufacturer
- John Nash (artist/maker)
- Culture
- British
- Date / Period
- 1820 – 1830 (creation date)
- Early 19th Century (period)
- Materials and Techniques
- watercolour (medium)
- paper (support)
- aquarelle (technique)
- Place
- London, England (creation)
- School / Style
- Romantic
- Neoclassical
- Image Subject
- still life
- botany
- sunflower
- Description
- A study of several sunflower blossoms and leaves, executed in transparent watercolour washes with fine linear detailing. The composition emphasizes natural form and balanced proportion, combining careful botanical observation with an idealized treatment of light and colour. The work reflects stylistic features associated with early nineteenth-century Romantic and Neoclassical painting, including a harmonious arrangement, subdued background, and attention to the aesthetic qualities of nature.
- Narrative
- The watercolour "Sunflowers" is believed to have been produced between 1820 and 1830. The work was reportedly part of a sketchbook belonging to a private collector in Bath, England, and was later separated from the album in the late nineteenth century. By the early 1900s, it was acquired by a London antiquarian bookseller, from whom it passed into a private Canadian collection in the 1920s. The sheet remained in family hands until its donation to the present institution in the mid-20th century. The subject matter and handling are consistent with the period’s revival of floral themes in decorative and scientific art, reflecting both aesthetic and horticultural interests in early industrial Europe. The watercolour’s careful draftsmanship and controlled tonal modelling suggest a trained hand, possibly that of a drawing-master or artist associated with botanical teaching.
- Record Rights
- Canadian Heritage Information Network
- Open Government Licence
Creation Place
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