Study of Ionic Capitals and Columns, Athens
Study of Ionic Capitals and Columns, Athens
Study of Ionic Capitals and Columns, AthensSigned lower centre: T.H. CROMEK f. ATHENS/9th Nov 1845Watercolour over pencil heightened with white on buff paper20.1 by 27.3 cm., 8 by 10 3/4 in.Provenance:Private collection since the 1950sCromek was born in London, the son of engraver, and was apprenticed to a portrait painter in Wakefield, Yorkshire. He soon turned to landscape painting and lived and worked mainly in Rome, from 1831 to 1849. He became well known and built up a successful teaching practice, numbering several notable visitors amongst his students, including Edward Lear in November 1837. He was forced to return to England in 1849 by Garibaldi's threatened attack on Rome. Cromek visited Athens twice, in the summer of 1834 and again in 1845 when he spent two months drawing its principal monuments. 'I was delighted by everything I saw at Athens: the colour of the buildings being much richer, and less dark than that of the ruins in Rome. As specimens of architecture, they are universally considered perfect' (Thomas Hartley Cromek, Reminiscences at Home and Abroad 1812-1855, August 23rd, 1834).){kind=link}
Thomas Hartley Cromek (1809-1873)
Study of Ionic Capitals and Columns, Athens
Signed lower centre: T.H. CROMEK f. ATHENS/9th Nov 1845
Watercolour over pencil heightened with white on buff paper
20.1 by 27.3 cm., 8 by 10 3/4 in.
Provenance:
Private collection since the 1950s
Cromek was born in London, the son of engraver, and was apprenticed to a portrait painter in Wakefield, Yorkshire. He soon turned to landscape painting and lived and worked mainly in Rome, from 1831 to 1849. He became well known and built up a successful teaching practice, numbering several notable visitors amongst his students, including Edward Lear in November 1837. He was forced to return to England in 1849 by Garibaldi's threatened attack on Rome.
Cromek visited Athens twice, in the summer of 1834 and again in 1845 when he spent two months drawing its principal monuments. 'I was delighted by everything I saw at Athens: the colour of the buildings being much richer, and less dark than that of the ruins in Rome. As specimens of architecture, they are universally considered perfect' (Thomas Hartley Cromek, Reminiscences at Home and Abroad 1812-1855, August 23rd, 1834).