Francis Towne

Netley Abbey

1809

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist
Francis Towne 1739–1816
Medium
Ink, watercolour and gum arabic on paper
Dimensions
Support: 354 × 490 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Purchased as part of the Oppé Collection with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund 1996
Reference
T08194

Display caption

Netley Abbey, just outside Southampton, had ghostly associations that dated back to the seventeenth century. This meant it suited current taste for the ‘Gothic’ particularly well. Towne visited the Abbey in 1798, though this watercolour was created later and exhibited in 1809. Towne was conforming to contemporary taste by choosing this subject, though his technique remains closer to older traditions. Earlier artists had produced what were effectively coloured-in drawings, in contrast to the more textural use of watercolour seen in the work of younger artists like Girtin and Turner.

Gallery label, September 2004

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