The Acropolis, Athens
The Acropolis, Athens
The Acropolis, Athens Watercolour over pencil heightened with gum arabic 13.7 by 24.1cm., 5 ¼ by 9 ½ in.This shows the Acropolis with the Temple of Zeus Olympios to the left and the monument of Philopappos on a hill in the distance. Cromek visited Athens twice, in the summer of 1834 and again in 1844 when he spent two months drawing its principal monuments. `I was delighted by everything I saw at Athens: the colour of the buildings being much richer, and less dark than that of the ruins in Rome. As specimens of architecture, they are universally considered perfect. I certainly worked very hard when able, and I am astonished at the number of sketches, large and small which I made in the course of a fortnight or very little more' (Thomas Hartley Cromek, Reminiscences at Home and Abroad 1812-1855, August 23rd, 1834).Cromek was born in London, the son of engraver, and was apprenticed to a portrait painter in Wakefield, Yorkshire. He soon became a landscape painter and lived and worked on the continent, and mainly in Rome, from 1831 to 1849. He built up a successful teaching practice there until 1849 when he was forced home by Garibaldi's threatened attack on Rome Provenance:The Cheney Family of Badger Hall, Shropshire;With Colnaghi, London, 1972Exhibited:London, Colnaghi, Thomas Hartley Cromek - Exhibition of watercolours and drawings of Italy, Greece and the Mediterranean, 29 Feb-30 March 1972, no.46){kind=link}
Thomas Hartley Cromek (1809-1873)
The Acropolis, Athens
Watercolour over pencil heightened with gum arabic
13.7 by 24.1cm., 5 ¼ by 9 ½ in.
This shows the Acropolis with the Temple of Zeus Olympios to the left and the monument of Philopappos on a hill in the distance. Cromek visited Athens twice, in the summer of 1834 and again in 1844 when he spent two months drawing its principal monuments.
`I was delighted by everything I saw at Athens: the colour of the buildings being much richer, and less dark than that of the ruins in Rome. As specimens of architecture, they are universally considered perfect. I certainly worked very hard when able, and I am astonished at the number of sketches, large and small which I made in the course of a fortnight or very little more' (Thomas Hartley Cromek, Reminiscences at Home and Abroad 1812-1855, August 23rd, 1834).
Cromek was born in London, the son of engraver, and was apprenticed to a portrait painter in Wakefield, Yorkshire. He soon became a landscape painter and lived and worked on the continent, and mainly in Rome, from 1831 to 1849. He built up a successful teaching practice there until 1849 when he was forced home by Garibaldi's threatened attack on Rome
Provenance:
The Cheney Family of Badger Hall, Shropshire;
With Colnaghi, London, 1972
Exhibited:
London, Colnaghi, Thomas Hartley Cromek - Exhibition of watercolours and drawings of Italy, Greece and the Mediterranean, 29 Feb-30 March 1972, no.46