Francis Nicholson OWS Exeter Cathedral

An original early 19th-century watercolour painting, Francis Nicholson OWS, Exeter Cathedral.

A wonderful view of Exeter Cathedral from the West Front and an early record of the Burnet Patch Bridge, which was erected in 1814 over the lane that goes through the city wall from Southernhay into the Cathedral Precinct. The bridge is said to have been built to span the gap in the city wall at the request of Mayor Burnet-Patch, who was required to walk the top of the city wall and found the task of clambering down the wall and back up the other side of the opening rather onerous.

Francis Nicholson OWS was a founder member of the Society of Painters in Water-Colours and he was dubbed 'The Father of Water Colour Painting' by his contemporaries. His innovative techniques ​​were significant in the development of the watercolour medium; around 1797 to 1800 he devised a system whereby he stopped out his light areas with a beeswax solution, allowing him to create deep wash shadows and ultimately bringing a richness to the medium more akin to oil painting. It is said that Turner described Francis Nicholson as 'my model' and once related to Mr Munro how he had copied Nicholson’s paintings in his youth.

Nicholson moved from his native Yorkshire to London around 1803, becoming an influential teacher and an early pioneer of lithography. Known for his British landscape subjects, he contributed 'Views of England' to 'The Beauties of England and Wales' (1801–15), published 'The Practice of Drawing and Painting Landscapes from Nature, in Watercolours' (1820) and selections of 800 lithographs, issued as Sketches of British Scenery (1821) and Six Views of Scarborough (1822).

Watercolour on paper laid down on card.

Provenance: Albany Gallery Collection