WATERCOLOURS BY WILLIAM PAYNE FROM THE BLAIR CHARITABLE TRUST, REMOVED FROM BLAIR CASTLE, BLAIR ATHOLL, SCOTLAND
(Lots 226-235)

The present group of watercolours by William Payne (1760-1830) have never been exhibited or even framed, rather they have remained loose in a folio and consequently their colours have survived with remarkable freshness. The bold palette and strong pen lines of the drawings in this group are very different from the soft restricted palette and careful pen that we today regard as typical of Payne's work. His more characteristic technique was developed from his training as a draughtsman for the Board of Ordnance where he was encouraged to record landscape details accurately and rapidly in either careful pen or pencil and then gently worked up in soft washes of colour. In the present group, with their sunsets, and depictions of smugglers and castles, we see the influence of the great Romantic painters such as Claude Joseph Vernet (1714-1789), giving a new insight into Payne's oeuvre.

Payne rapidly gained a reputation as a draughtsman of note and his works were widely disseminated through the various topographical treatises that were being published at the time and through his parallel career as a drawing master.

Born in London, Payne was posted by the Board to Plymouth in 1782, where he remained until 1790. He travelled throughout the region recording the landscapes and coastal scenes which inspired his work. Following his return to London in 1790, he returned frequently to the West Country and also undertook numerous sketching tours to South and North Wales, The Isle of Wight, The Lake District and Yorkshire.

Some of the views depicted in the following ten lots are of specific subjects, such as lot 230 of Mount Edgecumbe, whilst others appear to be capriccio views.

The freedom of the pen line and the bold colour washes in the present group of watercolours demonstrate a strength of handling and a palette not normally associated with Payne. Whilst some must record specific places and locations and are versions of earlier landscapes, others appear to be idealisations of scenery in order to convey a particular sentiment.

Durham Cathedral and Castle from the River Wear

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