Sheng Tzu-Chao (active 1310-1360)

Mountainous Landscape Chinese, late Yuan to early Ming Dynasty Brush and ink on silk 1468 x 610 mm This depicts one of the favourite subjects of Chinese landscape art – a view of hills surmounted by clumps of trees, whcih rise beyond to a distant mountain range wreathed in mist. With delicate, calligraphic strokes of … Read more

John Leech (1817-1864)

A Bracing Day at the Seaside British Watercolour over pencil 252 x 350 mm A family group struggle against the wind to walk along Scarborough Pier, whilst large waves break behind them. Leech’s characterisation of the holiday spirit is demonstrated by the ecstatic children in the foreground, the grimacing female guiding them, and the striding … Read more

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778)

The Grand Piazza, Plate IV from ‘The Prisons (Carceri)’ Rome, 1773 Etching with engraving 545 x 416 mm Piranesi’s set of architectural fantasies, ‘The Prisons’, were first published in 1745, but he extensively reworked the plates before reusing them in the 1760s. This transformed the architectural, stage-like designs into a dramatic world of gloom and … Read more

Giovanni Migliara (1785-1837)

An Architectural Capriccio 1829 Pencil and watercolour 180 x 234 mm Migliara was a scenery painter who turned to small-scale works after 1810, owing to illness. His precise, jewel-like technique and theatrical settings found much favour with patrons in his native Milan and further afield. His works are extremely rare in Britain. As the title … Read more

Pieter Anthoniesz Barbiers (1717-1780)

A Woodland Landscape with Three Travellers Amsterdam, about 1760 Watercolour, pen and ink on paper, with pen and ink borders Sheet 438 x 534 mm; mount 727 x 800 mm The flourishing tradition of 18th-century Dutch landscape watercolours is little known in Britain. This fine woodland scene, which is comparable in many ways to the … Read more

Anonymous

Apollo crowning a Poet 17th century Etching and engraving After Nicolas Poussin. Inscribed in pen verso lower right: V. Poliakoff 1930 717, and lower left in pencil: m. 303. Purchased 2005 (No.2005.2)

Jan (Johan) Sadeler I, after Paul Bril (about 1554-1626)

Landscape with Rabbit Hunt Rome, after 1595 Etching and engraving 270 x 343 mm Multiple groups of hunters and dogs bound through the landscape in pursuit of birds and beasts. The rickety fences, meandering paths and natural disarray of the forest contrast with the neat town in the background. Sadeler uses strong contrast in tone … Read more

Jozef Israels (1824-1911)

The fisherman Paris, about 1883 Etching on wove paper, probably Japanese paper, with blind stamp 498 x 391 mm Almost identical to an oil painting of about 1883 entitled ‘The Fisherman’ or ‘The Struggle for Existence’, this etching portrays a man with his sleeves and trouser legs rolled up for fishing salmon. The work focuses … Read more

Pierre Drevet (1663-1738), after Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1763)

Portrait of Robert de Cotte Paris, 1722 Engraving on laid paper 566 x 390 mm This print reproduces Hyacinthe Rigaud’s portrait of Robert de Cotte (1656-1735), one of the most significant French architects of his time. Cotte is portrayed as a self-assured figure, dressed in richly embroidered fabrics that indicate his wealth. He is shown … Read more

Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault (1791-1824)

The Flemish Farrier France, 1821 Lithograph 290 x 390 mm A rural working horse dominates this cramped and hot interior. A farrier with rolled-up sleeves and disheveled clothing works on the horse’s hoof, highlighted by bright white steam. This print formed part of Géricault’s publication The English Series – Various Subjects Drawn From Life. By … Read more

Giorgio Ghisi (1520/4-1582)

An allegory of life (‘The dream of Raphael’) Paris, 1561 Engraving 380 x 540 mm Believed to have been inspired by Virgil’s Aeneid (19 B.C.), this work remains elusive in meaning. Ghisi’s frenetic attention to detail creates an intense, dream-like atmosphere of confusion. The splintered boat stranded amid the swirling water, jagged rocks and snarling … Read more