Born in Stone, Staffordshire, Peter De Wint apprenticed, along with the artist William Hilton, to the engraver John Raphael Smith, from 1802 to 1806. He then studied with John Varley, shifting his attention to the subject of landscape. Varley introduced him to Dr. Monro and his informal academy, where De Wint saw and was inspired by works by Thomas Girtin with fluid brushstrokes, muted colors, and sweeping views. De Wint first exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1807 and subsequently enrolled in the Royal Academy Schools. He continued to exhibit there as well as at the Gallery of Associated Artists in Watercolours and at the Old Water-Colour Society, becoming a reputable drawing master.
Although he visited Normandy in 1828, De Wint otherwise remained in his own country, going on sketching tours in England and Wales. John Ruskin wrote about De Wint as “a most ardent lover of truth—hardly ever paints except from nature, attends constantly and effectually to colour and tone, and produces sketches of such miraculous truth of atmosphere, colour . . . and light.”1 In this large and narrow panoramic view, De Wint is looking southeast over the fields and the meandering Cuckmere River with its sharp bend.2 It is in front of Alfriston, a village in East Sussex near the southern coast of England. The Church of St. Andrews, dating back to the fourteenth century, is strategically placed in the central background, and a touch of the ocean is barely visible on the horizon. Details such as the quickly brushed trees, the drifting boat in the water, and the animals that dot the pastures give the landscape vitality. De Wint painted with vivid yellow, gold, and earth tones for the broad, flat stretch of land with lush green vegetation, and the temperamental sky ranges from blues to purples and grays. He successfully used the wet-on-wet painting technique, along with a dry brush across the surface of the sheet, and utilized the paper’s coarseness to add luminosity to his washes. In general, De Wint employed only two broad brushes—one old and dull, another new with a sharp point.3
De Wint painted several other views of this region. He displayed Twilight – Felphan, Sussex at the annual Society of Painters in Water Colours exhibition in 1837.4 View of Arundel was listed in his studio sale of 1850, and View of Pulborough was shown by J. & W. Vokins in London at its 1866 Centenary Exhibition.5 Other popular, nearby locations were painted by De Wint in View of Pevensey Castle as well as in Fishing Boats at Hastings.6 —Dena M. Woodall
Notes
1. See John Ruskin, Letters Addressed to a College Friend during the Years 1840–1845. First published in 1894, in E. T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds., The Works of John Ruskin, vol. 1 (London: George Allen, 1903), 427.
2. De Wint’s interest in panoramic views is evident by the wide-format sketchbooks he utilized. See John Lord, ed., Peter De Wint 1784–1849: For the Common Observer of Life and Nature, exh. cat. (Hampshire, VT: Lund Humphries, 2007), 13, 122, cat. 32.
3. See Matthew Hargraves and Scott Wilcox, Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (New Haven, and London: Yale University Press, 2007), 137. For interest in De Wint’s paper choices, see Peter Bower, “Peter De Wint and Thomas Creswick’s Paper ‘Signed all over,’” in Lord, ed., Peter De Wint 1784–1849, 71–77.
4. See Christie & Manson, Catalogue of the Whole of the Beautiful Works of That Unrivalled and Highly Respected Artist in Water Colours, Peter de Wint . . . (London: W. Clowes and Sons, 1850), lot 265 (as “coloured sketches from nature”), not illus.
5. See J. & W. Vokins, Peter De Wint: Centenary Exhibition (London: J. & W. Volkins, 1884), cat. 80.
6. Peter De Wint, View of Pevensey Castle and Westham Church, c. 1830s–40s, graphite and sepia wash on paper, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, Hastings [1929.22]. Thanks to Catherine Harvey, keeper of art and world cultures, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, for her response. Peter De Wint, Fishing Boat at Hastings, c. 1830s–40s, watercolor, Nottingham City Museums and Galleries, Nottingham [NCM 1924-35]. Thanks to Louise Dunning, curator of fine and decorative arts, for information on this work.
Alfriston, Sussex
De Wint, Harriet. A Short Memoir of the Life of Peter De Wint and William Hilton RA. N.p.: printed privately, 1849 and 1866. Reprinted in Peter De Wint by Hammond Smith. London: F. Lewis, 1982.
Hargraves, Matthew, and Scott Wilcox. Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2007.
J. & W. Vokins. Peter DeWint, Centenary Exhibition. London: J. & W. Vokins, 1884.
Lord, John, ed. Peter De Wint 1784–1849: For the Common Observer of Life and Nature. Exh. cat. Hampshire, VT: Lund Humphries, 2007.
Reynolds, Graham. English Watercolors: An Introduction. New York: New Amsterdam, 1988.
Scrase, David. Drawing and Watercolours by Peter De Wint. Exh. cat. Cambridge: Fitzwilliam Museum, 1979.
Smith, Hammond. Peter De Wint, 1784–1849. London: F. Lewis, 1982.
Wilcox, Scott. British Watercolors: Drawings of the 18th and 19th Centuries from the Yale Center for British Art. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1985.
Wilton, Andrew. British Watercolours 1750 to 1850. Oxford: Phaidon, 1977.
Provenance[Sotheby’s, London, The British Sale: Early Paintings, Drawings, and Watercolours, November 30, 2000, lot 300 (as “from various properties”)]; [Bill Thomson (1933?–2023), London, by 2015]; [his sale, Sotheby’s, London, Old Master and British Works on Paper, July 5, 2016, lot 314]; purchased by MFAH, 2016.