Winchester College's Pictures and Watercolours
February 18 2021
Picture: Winchester College
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Winchester College in Hampshire have done a splendid job of uploading their collection of paintings and watercolours online. It's very easy to search through their online database or simply browse at leisure.
In terms of works on paper, they have some very nice examples by Thomas Gainsborough, Francis Towne, Turner, Girtin, Wright of Derby and later works by Hercules Brabazon Brabazon and Albert Goodwin (pictured).
Their selection of portraits are also rather intriguing. I'd particularly like to draw attention to Isaac Whood's charming set of eighteenth century portraits known as the 'Gentlemen Commoners'. Christopher Rowell published a very interesting article on these Georgian paintings in the British Art Journal in 2013.
The college will be uploading their collection onto ArtUK in the upcoming months. There are bound to be some discoveries made, particularly the watercolours and drawings ascribed to 'English School' I imagine. This Portrait of an Unknown Lady of the 1670s reminds me a little of the work of Mary Beale, for example.
Update - I've been informed that Beale had been suggested as a possible author in the past, but this was eventually rejected by a specialist at the Tate. Mary Beale had in fact lived in Hampshire for six years after her family escaped plague ridden London in 1665.
