Watercolor over graphite on moderately thick, rough, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 12 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches (31.1 x 24.1 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.5248
Gallery Label:
This watercolor is one of a number of still lifes painted by DeWint, although he exhibited none in his lifetime. On the testimony of one of his pupils, it seems DeWint used these still lifes for strictly pedagogic purposes, taking up whatever lay to hand to encourage his pupils to learn how to control chiaroscuro, ordering the compositions through careful control of light and shade. By allowing the brightness of the paper to shine through, he has captured the luster of the glazed pots and the shifting facets of the wickerwork basket. Although his still lifes were superficially distinct from his landscapes, the lessons DeWint learned from painting them were fundamental to his tonal approach to landscape painting. Gallery label for Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-06-09 - 2008-08-17)
