Winchester College Publication English Watercolours from the Adam Crick Bequest | Page 10

Francis Towne 1739-1816
Waterfall at Chudleigh Rocks, 1787
Pencil, pen and black and brown inks, watercolour
17.1 x 13.7 cm
Inscribed recto: ‘F.Towne delt / 1787’; inscribed on artist’s mount verso:
‘Water Fall at Chudleigh Rock / Francis Towne. 1787’
T
owne seems to have had a particular fascination
with waterfalls: this watercolour is one of four
views of Chudleigh Rocks dated 1787. The previous
year Towne had travelled to the Lake District and made
numerous studies of the waterfalls of Stock Gill near
Ambleside. The Lake District views show water tumbling
through dense undergrowth. Here Towne depicts bright
sunlight on the open, rocky landscape. The foaming
water and clouds are represented by unpainted areas of
the paper.
On his return from Italy in 1782, Towne divided his time
between London and Exeter. He had a successful practice
as a drawing master in Devon and he was often called
upon to paint views of the estates of the local gentry.
Towne was disappointed, however, in his attempts to win
greater recognition. He was repeatedly frustrated in his
desire to be elected an Associate Member of the Royal
Academy, and an exhibition of his watercolours held in
London in 1805 seems to have been unsuccessful, with
very few works sold.
Towne’s struggle for recognition during his lifetime
was followed by a century of obscurity after his death.
His work was rediscovered only in the early 20th
century when his approach to landscape coincided with
contemporary taste, and he was seen as a precursor to
modernism. In the 1940s the art historian Martin
Hardie wrote: ‘In his bold simplification of from and
emphasis upon structure, Towne seems almost to
anticipate Cezanne’.
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