Fortified entrance to a Welsh town (East gate of Caernarvon)

ca. 1802

Not on view

Varley’s early mastery of watercolor is beautifully demonstrated in this response to the massive east gate of Caernarvon, a walled castle and town in North Wales. In 1802, the artist toured the region for a second time with his brother Cornelius. Two years later he joined the Society of Painters in Water-Colours—formed to raise the medium’s status—and may have exhibited this drawing there in 1805 as "View of Carnarvon Walls." In the first decade of the nineteenth century, the Napoleonic Wars kept British artists from traveling on the Continent and encouraged them to seek new material on their own islands.

Artwork Details

Title: Fortified entrance to a Welsh town (East gate of Caernarvon)
Artist: John Varley (British, London 1778–1842 London)
Date: ca. 1802
Medium: Watercolor and graphite
Dimensions: Sheet: 8 11/16 in. × 13 in. (22 × 33 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Connie Simmons and James D. Krugman, 2018
Object Number: 2018.589
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By John Varley

In the same medium

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A Practical Treatise on Perspective, Adapted for the Study of Those Who Draw from Nature, By Which the Usual Errors May Be Avoided

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A Practical Treatise on Perspective, Adapted for the Study of Those Who Draw From Nature by which the Usual Errours May be Corrected

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ca. 1820

Bamborough Castle from the Northeast, with Holy Island in the Distance, Northumberland, John Varley British, Watercolor and graphite with scratching out — Bamborough Castle from the Northeast, with Holy Island in the Distance, Northumberland
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Figures beside a waterfall and pool in a wooded landscape, John Varley British, Watercolor, and traces of graphite — Figures beside a waterfall and pool in a wooded landscape
John Varley
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A View of Chester, John Varley British, Watercolor, reinforced in places with gum, over graphite on card. — A View of Chester
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