The Interior of the Church at Lery, Normandy, John Sell Cotman

John Sell Cotman

The Interior of the Church at Lery, Normandy

Signed lower left: J.S. Cotman 1817  

Pencil on buff paper

18.4 by 27.1 cm., 7 ¼ by 10 ½ inches

Provenance:

With Palser, 1919;

John Drinkwater, his sale Christie’s, 16th May 1934, lot 7, bt. Wagner for 7 gns.;

Private Collection, London

Cotman arrived in Dieppe on 20th June 1817 and spent the next seven weeks travelling round Normandy. His aim was to produce drawings to be engraved for an historical tour of the area and this was the first of three visits to France.

The present on-the-spot sketch was a preliminary study for plate 46 of Cotman’s `Architectural Antiquities of Normandy’ published in 1822 as The Interior of the Church of Léry near Pont-del-L’arche, Normandy.

He reached Lery, which is about twelve miles south of Rouen on 6th July. A view of the church from the south-east, dated that day is in the Yale Center for British Art. A view of the front of the church was published as an engraving on 1st April 1820.

Dimensions

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance