{
"data": {
"id": 119729,
"accession_number": "1940.564",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Bray Church Yard, 1807. John Varley (British, 1778\u20131842). Watercolor and graphite; sheet: 24.9 x 36.9 cm (9 13/16 x 14 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of James Parmelee, 1940.564",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Bray Church Yard",
"creation_date": "1807",
"creation_date_earliest": 1807,
"creation_date_latest": 1807,
"artists_tags": [
"male"
],
"culture": [
"England, 19th century"
],
"technique": "watercolor and graphite",
"support_materials": [
{
"description": "thick, moderately textured beige wove paper",
"watermarks": []
}
],
"department": "Drawings",
"collection": "DR - British",
"type": "Drawing",
"measurements": "Sheet: 24.9 x 36.9 cm (9 13/16 x 14 1/2 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"sheet": {
"height": 0.249,
"height_inch": 9,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.8125,
"width": 0.369,
"width_inch": 14,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.5
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "inscribed, in graphite, on verso, at lower left: BrayChurch Yard - 1807",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 312341,
"title": "The Silver Jubilee Exhibition",
"description": "The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).",
"opening_date": "1941-06-23T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 304714,
"title": "European Watercolors Through the 18th Century",
"description": "European Watercolors Through the 18th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 14-March 22, 1964).",
"opening_date": "1964-01-14T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 200485,
"title": "British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art ",
"description": "British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).",
"opening_date": "2013-02-10T00:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "(sale, Victor G. Fischer Company Collection, Anderson Galleries, New York, February 19, 1912, no. 655)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [
"Misattributed to J.M.W. Turner in this sale.
"
],
"date": "1912",
"sortorder": 2
},
{
"description": "James Parmelee [1855-1931], Washington, DC, by descent to Alice Maury Parmelee, Washington, DC",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "probably 1912-1931",
"sortorder": 3
},
{
"description": "Alice Maury Parmelee [1862-1940], Washington, DC, bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1931-1940",
"sortorder": 4
},
{
"description": "Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1940-",
"sortorder": 5
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "Although rare, John Varley's early watercolors are considered his most inspired work.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "The inscription on the reverse of this drawing, \"Bray Church Yard-1807,\" likely refers to St. Michael\u2019s, the parish church in the village of Bray on the banks of the Thames in the county of Berkshire. The banks of the lower Thames Valley provided the subject matter for many of John Varley\u2019s early watercolors. His pursuit of the picturesque led the artist to turn his back on London and its connotations of commerce and industry, focusing instead on the rural aspects of the scene.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80014914"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1940.564-bray-church-yard"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Francis, Henry S. \"The Bequest of James Parmelee: Department of Paintings.\" The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 28, no. 2 (1941): 15-31.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 17 (as J.M.W. Turner)",
"url": "https://www.jstor.org/stable/25140904"
},
{
"citation": "Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 58-9 149, no. 18; Reproduced: p. 59",
"url": null
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1940.564",
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"creditline": "Bequest of James Parmelee",
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"id": 51904,
"description": "John Varley (British, 1778\u20131842)",
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"sortable_date": 1807,
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"alternate_titles": [
"Houses"
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"updated_at": "2026-05-29 06:10:59.495000"
}
}