Lot 109
£150,200
Scottish Paintings & Sculpture
Auction: Evening Sale | Lots 103-196 | Thursday 05 December from 6pm
Oil on canvas
81cm x 122cm (32in x 48in)
Thos. Agnew & Sons, London, no.13548
Daniell published an aquatint of this subject on July 15th 1804.
William Daniell is arguably the foremost topographical artist produced by Britain. Mastering both oil paint and the delicate aquatint printmaking process, Daniell developed his career as a professional artist under the tutelage of his uncle, Thomas Daniell, with whom he was sent to live after the early death of his father in 1779. Thomas Daniell and his then sixteen-year-old apprentice undertook extensive travel to India in 1786, during which time they executed their first series of aquatints, with the guidance of local Indian craftsmen. This extraordinary journey lasted some eight years, ranging from Calcutta to Delhi and as far as Garhwal in the Himalayas.
Upon his return to England, it is reputed that the younger Daniell spent the next seven years working from six in the morning until midnight each day perfecting his aquatint technique. His hard-earned expertise was shown to best effect in A Voyage Round Britain, an eight-volume folio of prints. The journey upon which this masterwork was based was completed in six separate trips, over the period 1813 to 1823. Pencil sketches were made with notes regarding colour and texture, with the prints later produced in remarkable detail in the artist’s London studio. This significant body of work was published by Longman between 1814 and 1825, and remains a testament to the artist’s skill and industriousness. Such was its popularity that many scenes from the folio remain ubiquitous in art collections around the UK to this day.
Daniell’s travels in Scotland were extensive, encompassing the Orkney islands and many of the Hebrides. The oil offered here was published as an aquatint in 1804 as View of the New Bridge over the River Tweed at Kelso, Scotland, and as such represents one of his earliest engagements with the Scottish landscape. Inscribed ‘To John Rennie Esq.r Civil Engineer & F.R. A.S.S. &c. &c. by his obliged and obedient servant, William Daniell’, the print is a record of the bridge’s construction. In 1797 the old bridge had collapsed in a storm and subsequently the Scottish engineer John Rennie (1761-1821) was called in. It was his first bridge commission and Rennie utilised techniques previously unheard of in bridge construction, using a combination of cast iron and stone to create wide arches. The result was considered a huge success. The Kelso Bridge was so impressive that Rennie won contracts to build three major London bridges: Waterloo (a larger version of Kelso bridge), Southwark and London Bridge (completed from his design after his death).
Daniell expertly captures the atmosphere of this panoramic view, from the elegance and grandeur of the bridge itself to its dramatic reflection in the water below. The imposing ruins of the abbey on the Tweed’s banks dominate the vista, but close examination reveals a multitude of detail: a horse and carriage cross the splendid new bridge whilst chimneys smoke in Kelso town beyond.
Scotland remained a fertile source of inspiration for Daniell and indeed many of the oils he produced for the Royal Academy exhibitions of 1813 to 1825 were of Scottish subjects, explaining why his name is often synonymous with the country’s landscape and its landmarks. Daniell was elected to the Academy in 1822, beating John Constable in the same ballot by six votes. As well as being greatly respected in his field, he was a well-travelled individual with a peerless work ethic and innovative approach to making his own fortune, which indeed he did, very successfully so.
Daniell’s work is represented in many leading institutions both nationally and internationally.