Att. John Varley (1778-1842) - Harlech Castle

This interesting view of Harlech Castle with a rain storm passing by is a highly skilled early 19th century watercolour. It was a subject matter that many artists would continue to return to. Turner and Girtin both produced various pictures of the castle but the artist we shall focus closely on is John Varley. In 1803 Varley exhibited two views of Harlech Castle at the Royal Academy and in his career he went on to exhibit 23 versions of the castle between 1803 and 1840. [1] 
 
Our work is particularly comparable to Varley's 1804 watercolour titled 'Harlech Castle and the Twgwyn Ferry' which is held in the Yale Center for British Art's collection (Accession Number: B1986.29.578) and also a watercolour by Varley held in the Met Museum called 'Harlech Castle across the Traeth Mawr' (Accession Number: 2007.274). The Yale watercolour in particular has a similar perspective to our work and also shares many similarities including scratching out to highlight the shoreline. 
 
Medium: watercolour on paper. 9.5 x 14.7 cm, mounted.
 
Provenance: Bill Thomson (Albany Gallery).
 
Bibliography:
 
[1] C.M. Kauffman, John Varley (1778-1842) (London, 1984), see p137.
 
Condition report: some light foxing and fading obvious when viewed closely.