Until this Sunday only, there is a small exhibition of 14 works by the eminent English watercolourist, David Cox (1783 – 1859). The works are from the Stirling Smith’s own collection, and are part of the bequest of the founder, Thomas Stuart Smith. The exhibition is curated by intern Annika Thielen, the Museum Studies student from Leipzig who is with the Smith for 5 months. The works have not been on show for 50 years, and like Turner’s watercolours in the National Gallery, they are in show for January only.
Cox was one of the great masters whose late works rank alongside Turner, Constable and Boudin for their impressionistic methods. He was born in Birmingham and worked in his father’s smithy. During a period of recuperation when he broke his leg, he was given a box of paints and his artistic talents were discovered. Aged 16, he became apprenticed to a locket maker, painting miniature portraits, then became a scene painter at a Birmingham theatre.
In 1804 Cox moved to London and established a teaching practice. In 1814 he published a ‘Treatise on Landscape Painting and Effect in Watercolour’ followed by other works.
Stirling is fortunate to have a collection of works by this great artist. Don’t miss the chance of seeing them.
Comment(1)
Ashton Taylor Smith says
16th August 2024 at 4:13 PMI remember my father saving these wonderful watercolours from destruction as a result of water running down the walls of one of the side galleries, from a leaking roof, in the early 1970s. He later gathered together intersted locals in saving the Smith, to a public meeting at our home at 18 Clarengdon Place Stirling. So many turned up for the meeting chaired by Viscount Younger that the windows had to be opened so the crowd could hear the proceedings from the driveway. Over 200 locals turned up, and along with my father Alan, the friends of the Smith was born.