John Sell Cotman

John Sell Cotman prints bring the quiet rivers, ruined abbeys, Norfolk churches and Normandy towns of a great English watercolourist into your home. Cotman was a leading painter of the Norwich School, admired for his calm, flat washes of colour and his clear sense of design. Our collection of fine art prints covers his watercolours of Yorkshire and Wales, his marine pieces, and his many etchings of the old buildings of Norfolk and Normandy.

About John Sell Cotman

John Sell Cotman was born in Norwich on 16 May 1782, the son of a hairdresser who became a silk merchant and lace dealer. He showed talent early, sketching around Norwich and the north Norfolk coast, and refused to follow his father into business. Around 1798 he moved to London, where he joined the circle of Dr Thomas Munro and Thomas Girtin's sketching club, and travelled to Surrey and Wales on drawing trips. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1800.

In the summers of 1803–1805 he stayed with the Cholmeley family in Yorkshire, and on a visit to Rokeby Park painted his watercolours of the River Greta, which are among the finest made by any European watercolourist. In 1806 he returned to Norwich, joined the Norwich Society of Artists and became its president in 1811. He married Ann Miles in 1809; their sons Miles Edmund and John Joseph Cotman also became painters.

From 1812 to 1823 he lived at Great Yarmouth, studying ships and waves, and toured Normandy in 1817, 1818 and 1820 to draw its buildings for his friend Dawson Turner. The resulting Architectural Antiquities of Normandy (1822) brought him his greatest fame in his lifetime. Money worries dogged him, but in 1834, partly on J. M. W. Turner's recommendation, he became drawing master at King's College School in London, where Dante Gabriel Rossetti was among his pupils. He died in London on 24 July 1842.

Style and Subjects

Cotman's watercolours are known for their flat, clear washes laid side by side like pieces of a puzzle, with simple shapes and a strong sense of pattern. Trees, bridges, rocks and water are reduced to their essentials, giving his best pictures a calm, almost modern look.

His etchings take a different approach: careful, detailed records of church fonts, doorways, castles and abbeys, influenced by the Italian etcher Piranesi. His later marine pieces and oils show stormy seas and sailing boats with real energy.

Famous Works

• Cader Idris from the Mawddach Estuary (c. 1802), Norfolk Museums Collections. A Welsh mountain view from his early sketching tours.
• The River Greta watercolours (1805). His celebrated views of the Greta painted at Rokeby Park in Yorkshire.
• Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire (1810). The great ruined abbey in the Yorkshire dales.
• Architectural Antiquities of Norfolk (1818). A set of etchings of Norfolk's old churches and buildings.
• Architectural Antiquities of Normandy (1822). Etchings from his three tours of Normandy, published by Dawson Turner.
• The Silent Stream, Normandy (1826), Norfolk Museums Collections. A quiet river scene from his Normandy memories.
• Blasting St Vincent's Rock, Clifton (1830). A dramatic view of quarrying in the Avon Gorge.
• From My Father's House at Thorpe, Norfolk (1842), Norfolk Museums Collections. One of his last pictures, a view near Norwich.

Decorating with Cotman Prints

Cotman's watercolours, with their soft greens, blues and ochres, suit a living room, bedroom or study, and their simple shapes sit comfortably in both traditional English and modern interiors. Rievaulx Abbey or The Norfolk Broads makes a calm focal point above a desk or mantel.

His etchings of church fonts, doorways and castles make a handsome gallery wall in a hallway, library or staircase, and the sea pieces, like Sailing Wherries and Boats in a Choppy Sea, suit a coastal home.

FAQ

What was the Norwich School of painters?

It was a group of landscape painters based in Norwich in the early 19th century, organised through the Norwich Society of Artists. Cotman was one of its leading members and became the society's president in 1811.

What are John Sell Cotman's most famous works?

His watercolours of the River Greta, painted in Yorkshire in 1805, are his most celebrated. His etchings for Architectural Antiquities of Normandy (1822) made him most famous in his lifetime.

Who did John Sell Cotman teach?

He ran a drawing school in Norfolk and from 1834 was drawing master at King's College School in London, where Dante Gabriel Rossetti was one of his pupils.

Where can I see Cotman's work?

Norfolk Museums Collections in Norwich hold a large group, and other works are in regional British galleries such as Bradford, Canterbury and Colchester and Ipswich.

Related Artists

• Thomas Girtin: watercolourist whose sketching club Cotman joined in London
• J. M. W. Turner: recommended him for his post at King's College
• Miles Edmund Cotman: his son, who assisted him and succeeded him as drawing master
• John Crome: fellow leading painter of the Norwich School
• Peter De Wint: watercolourist he met in his early London years