Watercolor and graphite on moderately thick, moderately textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 11 3/4 × 8 3/4 inches (29.8 × 22.2 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1986.29.416
Gallery Label:
Nothing is known of Isaac Mendes Belisario's early education, nor the circumstances that led him to pursue an artistic career, an unusual choice for a Jew at the time, but he may have been encouraged by his uncle Jacob Mendes Belisario, who seems to have collected and dealt in art. Isaac was trained by Robert Hills, a landscape watercolorist and drawing master. A keystone of Hills's practice was the firsthand observation of nature, and the numerous sketches made during or derived from his sketching expeditions, like this one, typically consist of closely observed studies of single figures, animals, or agricultural implements. Gallery label for Art and Emancipation in Jamaica: Isaac Mendes Belisario and his Worlds (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-09-27 - 2007-12-30)