id:			155930
accession number:	1991.22
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1991.22
updated:		2023-03-14 12:01:44.323000

Traveler in a Woodland Landscape, 1806. John Sell Cotman (British, 1782–1842). Graphite and gray wash; sheet: 30.3 x 21 cm (11 15/16 x 8 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Delia E. Holden Fund 1991.22

title:				Traveler in a Woodland Landscape
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1806
creation date earliest:		1806
creation date latest:		1806
current location:		
creditline:			Delia E. Holden Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	England, 19th century
technique:	graphite and gray wash
department:	Drawings
collection:	DR - British
type:		Drawing
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* John Sell Cotman (British, 1782–1842)  - artist

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measurements: Sheet: 30.3 x 21 cm (11 15/16 x 8 1/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:

	description:	beige wrapping paper
	watermarks:	

inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Notable Acquisitions
	opening date:   1991-06-07T04:00:00
	<i>Notable Acquisitions</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 15, 1991).

	title:		Nature Sublime: Landscapes from the 19th Century
	opening date:   2004-08-15T00:00:00
	<i>Nature Sublime: Landscapes from the 19th Century</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 15-November 14, 2004).

	title:		British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art 
	opening date:   2013-02-10T00:00:00
	<i>British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art </i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Eric Hinde
	date: ?-?
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	(Davis and Langdale, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
	date: ?-1991
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1991-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
This drawing is closely related to one in the collection of the Norwich Castle Museum, in which a similarly abstracted figure retreats beneath embowering trees twisted in fantastic shapes.

digital description:
John Sell Cotman left his native Norfolk at the young age of 16 and traveled to London with the aspiration to be an artist. His work evolved at a rapid pace as he developed a highly original style remarkable for its simple elegance and schematic treatment of the natural world. This landscape was made soon after a trip to Yorkshire. Cotman largely ignored the noteworthy landmarks of the area, preferring obscure views—trees, crumbling stone walls, and dilapidated fences. Inspired by the Greta woods, the straining bows of the trees form a beautifully balanced structure of geometric and amorphous shapes.

wall description:
The precocious Cotman left his native Norfolk at the young age of 16 and traveled to London with the aspiration to be an artist. His work evolved at a rapid pace as he developed a highly original style remarkable for its simple elegance and schematic treatment of the natural world. This landscape was made soon after a trip to Yorkshire. Cotman largely ignored the noteworthy landmarks of the area, preferring obscure views-trees, crumbling stone walls, and dilapidated fences. Inspired by the Greta woods, the straining bows of the trees form a beautifully balanced structure of geometric and amorphous shapes.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Rajnai, Miklós and Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton. <em>John Sell Cotman, 1782-1842: Early Drawings (1798-1812) in Norwich Castle Museum</em>. Norwich, UK: Norfolk Museums Service, 1979.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 58, no. 49, and p. 58, n. 7, no. 48
	url:		

	Turner, Evan H. et al. "Notable Acquisitions." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 78, no. 3 (June 1991): 63-147.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 77
	url:		www.jstor.org/stable/25161319

	Hill, David. <em>Cotman in the North: Watercolours of Durham and Yorkshire</em>. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 173, n. 20
	url:		

	Lemonedes, Heather. <em>British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.
	page number: 	Mentioned: pp. 56-7, 144, no. 17; Reproduced: p. 57
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1991.22/1991.22_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1991.22/1991.22_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1991.22/1991.22_full.tif