It was a visit to Spain in 1832 which inspired John Frederick Lewis to paint this watercolor. For his theme, Lewis went back in time to 1645 when the Spanish master Bartolomé-Esteban Murillo (1618-82) painted eleven pictures for the Franciscan convent in his hometown of Seville. These pictures established Murillo's reputation as one of the leading artists of the period. Besides the introduction of more exotic subject matter into his work, the Spanish trip also helped to encourage Lewis to intensify his color.
Lewis's watercolor technique was influenced by William Henry Hunt (also represented in this installation). Lewis looked to Hunt's meticulous style, and then developed his own method of blending transparent watercolor with Chinese white to achieve a chromatic opulence. In the work on view, he uses bright, gemlike colors and shows a fascination for the effects of light in all its aspects.
cxd
<P>It was a visit to Spain in 1832 which inspired John Frederick Lewis to paint this watercolor. For his theme, Lewis went back in time to 1645 when the Spanish master Bartolomé-Esteban Murillo (1618-82) painted eleven pictures for the Franciscan convent in his hometown of Seville. These pictures established Murillo's reputation as one of the leading artists of the period. Besides the introduction of more exotic subject matter into his work, the Spanish trip also helped to encourage Lewis to intensify his color.</P><P>Lewis's watercolor technique was influenced by William Henry Hunt (also represented in this installation). Lewis looked to Hunt's meticulous style, and then developed his own method of blending transparent watercolor with Chinese white to achieve a chromatic opulence. In the work on view, he uses bright, gemlike colors and shows a fascination for the effects of light in all its aspects.</P>
Context
false