WATER-COLOUR painting is in one sense the most ancient mode of pictorial art. We find examples of it in the tombs of the Egyptians, in the Roman catacombs, and in the houses of Pompeii. Oil painting is, in comparison, a modern process, though the statement that it was only discovered by the Van Eycks in the beginning of the fifteenth century, is now known to be a mistake. The earliest pictures were produced with colours soluble in water and mixed with certain ingredients necessary to fix them. In this way wall paintings were executed in tempera, a process familiar to us as painting in distemper. Raphael's cartoons are specimens of tempera-painting on paper, and Mantegna's Triumph of Cæsar (Hampton Court) furnish examples of the like process on canvas. The art of water-colour painting was practised by the early Italian and German artists, and by those of the Flemish and Dutch schools. In most of the illuminations of missals, in this and other countries, water colours were used, mixed extensively with body white. Such was the case with the early miniature painters of England, who began by using opaque colours, and gradually advanced to transparent pigments. Notwithstanding the antiquity of painting in water colours, the creation of a School of Water-Colour Art, in the sense in which that term is now understood, belongs to this country. It was not to the tempera painter, nor to the illuminator of missals, nor to the early miniaturist that we owe this modern school. We must look for its germ in the practice of the topographer, who drew ruins, buildings, and landscapes for the antiquary. The earliest of such works were executed in outline with a reed pen. Examples are to be seen in some small pictures by Albrecht Dürer, in the British Museum. The pigments used were transparent, and applied on paper. The earliest of these pictures are in monochrome, black or grey; next, colour was added here and there, and the whole effect was something like that of a coloured print. Such were "the tinted," or "steyned" drawings in which our modern water-colour paintings originated. The early method prevailed for a long time, as may be seen in the historic collection of water-colour paintings at South Kensington, but gradually the art developed, better pigments were used, and, as early as 1790, a marked improvement accrued, which led to the triumphs of Girtin and Turner, and the more brilliant examples of later days. One great advantage belongs to the modern school of water colours—it started from nature, untrammelled by conventional rules or traditions. The early topographers were brought face to face with nature; some of them, like Webber and Alexander, extended their observations to foreign lands; others, finding out the beauties of their own country, were content to copy nature. It remained to our artists towards the end of the last, and early in the present century, to give a new and higher character to water-colour art, which from obscure beginnings has risen to be a purely national and original school. Practised by a succession cf men of great genius, a distinct branch of art has been created, taking rank with works in oil. More luminous, and hardly less powerful than pictures in that medium, it has lent itself, in skilled hands, to the fullest expression of nature, and perfect rendering of the ideal.
PAUL SANDBY (1725—1809) has been called "the father of water-colour art;" but as he never advanced beyond the tinted mode, and to the last used Indian ink for shadows, and the pen for outlines, the title is unmerited. Sandby was a native of Nottingham, and having served in the Drawing Office in the Tower, he settled at Windsor in 1752, and became instructor in drawing to the children of George III. He was one of the original members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and at the same time was made drawing master in the Military School at Woolwich. He painted many scenes in the neighbourhood of Windsor, and for Sir Watkin W. Wynn and Sir Joseph Banks landscapes in Wales. Specimens of his art in body-colour and tinting are in the South Kensington collection, including An Ancient Beech Tree, which is painted in body-colour; The Round Temple is in Indian ink, slightly tinted; Landscape with Dog and figures, is in the fully tinted manner.
THOMAS HEARNE (1744—1817) came early from Wiltshire to London, and was intended for trade. He was, however, apprenticed to Woollett, the engraver. In 1771, he went to the Leeward Isles as draughtsman to the Governor, and this new occupation induced him to abandon engraving for topography. He tinted landscapes, with local colour largely used. His Village Alehouse, View of Richmond, two shipping scenes after Van de Velde, and Caistor Castle are at South Kensington.
WILLIAM PAYNE, who at one time held a civil appointment in Plymouth dockyard, came to London in 1790. He had previously exhibited tinted pictures of Devonshire scenery, which attracted the notice of Reynolds. He is best known as the introducer of a neutral colour, styled Payne's Grey.
ALEXANDER COZENS (died 1786), a natural son of Peter the Great, was born in Russia. After studying art in Italy he came to England in 1746, and practised as a teacher of drawing. Gifted with a fine poetic feeling, and having a noble sense of breadth, this artist made a deep impression on those who followed him.
JOHN WEBBER (1752—1793) travelled in Italy, France, and Switzerland, and made numerous drawings. He was draughtsman to Captain Cook in his last voyage, and a witness of his death.
JOHN ROBERT COZENS (1752—1799), son of Alexander Cozens, was one of the earliest who practised water-colour painting in the modern sense of the term. His works in the tinted manner are full of poetic beauty, and exhibit a marked improvement on those of his predecessors. At South Kensington may be seen his Chigi Palace near Albano. Constable, who was much impressed by Cozen's art, said that he was "the greatest genius who ever touched landscape." He was the first to go beyond topography, and to impart pathos to his pictures. Although he worked mainly in the received method of tinting, there are signs in his pictures of a noble progress, which was soon to become more marked.
JOHN SMITH (1749—1831), called "Warwick Smith," probably because he travelled in Italy with the Earl of Warwick, or on his behalf. Six of his Italian sketches are at South Kensington. Gainsborough said "he was the first water-colour painter who carried his intention through." In 1816 he was President of the Society of Painters in Water Colours. We must here briefly mention THOMAS ROWLANDSON (1756—1827), who is best known by caricatures, including illustrations to "Doctor Syntax," "The Dance of Death," and "Dance of Life."
WILLIAM ALEXANDER (1767—1816) accompanied Lord Macartney to China, in 1792, as draughtsman to the Mission. He was afterwards made Keeper of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum. He illustrated many books of travel.
JOSHUA CRISTALL (1767—1847), one of the foundation members of the Water-Colour Society, of which he was more than once President. He usually painted classic figures with landscape backgrounds, and genre subjects. His Young Fisher Boy and Fish Market on Hastings Beach are at South Kensington.