Lot 39: John Robert Cozens (1752-1797)

On the coast of Posillipo near the point from Marechiaro, Italy
pencil and watercolour
9 1/4 x 14 5/8 in. (23.5 x 37.2 cm.)

C.F. Bell and T. Girtin 'The Drawings and Sketches of John Robert Cozens', Walpole Society, vol. XXIII, 1935, p. 62, no. 289.

William Beckford, by whom commissioned; Christie's, London, 4 October 1805, lot 10 as 'A warm and glowing scene'.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, 10 December 1958, lot 43 (to Agnew's, on behalf of Denys Sutton).

Property from the Collection of Denys Sutton
Lots 39-44

Denys Sutton (d. 1991), long-reigning editor of Apollo, displayed a wide range of knowledge and many interests as exemplified by his writings on generations of collectors, museums and artists and his curatorial role in mounting various gallery exhibitions, including the seminal France in the the Eighteenth Century exhibition, held to great acclaim at the Royal Academy in 1968. He and his wife assembled a magnificent collection at their home in London and at Westwood Manor, Wiltshire (which was leased from the National Trust). This spring, Christie's was entrusted with the sale of exemplary works from his Old Master Paintings Collection, which sold in Christie's, New York on 26 January (and included a passionate depiction of the Penitent Mary Magdalen by Fililppino Lippi, lot 65), as well as British works by Sickert, Roger Fry and Duncan Grant among others to be sold in 20th Century British Art, London 10 June 2005; and Bildnis Nell Walden by Kokoschka to be sold Impressionist and Modern Works on Paper, London 5 May 2005 lot 144.

John Robert Cozens had two opportunities to travel over the Alps and visit Italy; once, in 1776-1779 in the entourage of Richard Payne Knight (see lot 16), and again in 1782-3 with the eccentric and spoiled William Beckford, 'England's weathiest son'. Beckford was an established friend of Alexander Cozens, and his patronage of John Robert followed naturally from that. He had commissioned Italian views from him before they set out together in May 1782. 'He cannot make too many,' Beckford wrote to Alexander. 'Having seen Italy I value them more than ever if that be possible.'

The artist took several sketchbooks with him, and began drawing in earnest when they reached the 'entrance to the Tyrol', as he inscribed his first sketch. The books were to provide him with material for watercolours both during the tour and later in England. Not all have survived, but those we have are now in the Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester. The travellers emerged from the mountains at Verona, and spent some days exploring Veneto, then set off south for Rome which they reached on 26 June. They were guests of the British Envoy in Naples, Sir William Hamilton, first at his house in Posillipo to the north of the city, and a little later at his casino on the slopes of Vesuvius above Portici. It was near Posillipo that Cozens recorded this view in his sketchbook vol. IV, dated 5 October 1782, (see fig. 1).

The sketches that John Robert made on his tour with Beckford are often slight-a mere pencil outline, nervously responding to the character of rock or foliage, always delicately expressive but understated. It was into the watercolours that he constructed on these slender foundations that John Robert poured all the reserves of his pent up, melancholic nature. The series that he made for Beckford, was probably decided by his patron when he showed Beckford his sketchbooks after the two men, who had separated in Naples, met again in Geneva on the return journey. Many of the finished watercolours were most probably executed in England.

There are nearly a hundred of them in all, and they count among the most intense of all Cozens's works, using rich deep blues and stormy blacks, a palette reflecting Beckford's temperament as much as the artist's, a temperament much given to brooding introspection and romantic fantasizing. The compositions are often wayward, ignoring the traditional rules of picturesque design, and relying on unexpected emphases or, alternatively and quite characteristically, an almost oriental refusal to indulge in rhetoric. It is not surprising that when this watercolour was catalogued for sale in 1805 it was described simply, in words that, as C.F. Bell and Thomas Girtin suggested, are very likely Beckford's own, as 'a warm and glowing scene'.

The specific locality is less important than its magical atmosphere, which suffuses and half-immerses every object, so that crowding boskage and crumbling ruins take on the character of ghosts from the ancient past. Nevertheless, the inspiration of the particular place is important, and contributes significantly to the compelling beauty of the work: John Robert has taken his view looking east towards the Capo di Posillipo from Marechiaro, today still a small fishing village on the spectacular coast of the Bay of Naples, with views out toward the cone of Vesuvius, which is just visible at the right of his composition.

There is a copy of this watercolour by J.M.W. Turner and T. Girtin (see lot 32) in the Turner Bequest, TBCCCLXXVI7.

We are grateful to Andrew Wilton for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.