John Sell Cotman was an English marine and landscape painter, etcher, illustrator and author, a leading member of the Norwich school of artists.
Background
Cotman was the eldest son of a prosperous silk merchant and lace dealer. His father intended him to go into the family business but instead, intent on a career in art, he moved to London in 1797-98, initially making a living through commissions from print-sellers.
After his death, all of his works and his collection of prints and books were sold by auction at Christie's, realising just over £525 - a relatively paltry sum.
Cotman worked in oils, watercolour, pencil and chalk, and produced many hundreds of etchings. His work can be found in the UK at the Castle Museum and Art Gallery in Norwich (well over 2000 pieces), Tate Gallery, the British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, City Art Gallery and other regional centres. In the USA, Cotman is represented at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut and other galleries around the country.
At 16, Cotman went to London, where he met and studied with J.M.W. Turner, and with him was influenced by Thomas Girtin, master of transparent watercolor painting. Primarily a painter of landscapes and marine views, Cotman also executed numerous prints of architectural antiquities from his native region and from Normandy. For many years he followed in the footsteps of John Crome, teaching and painting in Norwich. In 1834 he was appointed drawing master at King's College, London, a position which he held until his death. Cotman created a fine decorative style of color areas and silhouettes, as in Greta Bridge (c. 1806), which is in the British Museum, London. In his later years he used thickened paints to attain a richer effect.
Education
John was educated at the Free Grammar School. He showed a talent for art from an early age and would go out on frequent drawing trips into the surrounding countryside.
Career
He came under the patronage of Dr. Thomas Monro, whose house was also a studio and a meeting place for artists. There Cotman made the acquaintance of J M W Turner, Peter de Wint and Thomas Girtin - the last, in particular, becoming a very influential figure in his artistic development. He joined a sketching club started by Girtin, and went on drawing expeditions to Wales and Surrey.
In 1800, at the age of eighteen, Cotman exhibited at the Royal Academy for the first time, and was also awarded an honorary palette by the Society of Arts. He continued to exhibit at the Academy until 1806, and also went on several extended drawing trips through England and Wales.
In 1807 he returned Norwich and, joined the "Norwich Society of Artists", exhibiting many of his works there in 1808.
In 1811 he became the president of the society.
After the marriage in 1809, his main living came from teaching art and one of his students, the local antiquary Dawson Turner, became a good friend, introducing him to many pupils and collaborating on one of his books. Apart from painting and drawing, Cotman made many etchings of old buildings and sepulchral brasses in Norfolk which were published in four volumes between 1811 and 1819. He also made several journeys to Normandy in France, between 1817-20, and the engravings produced were also published in two volumes in 1822.
From 1812 to 1823, Cotman lived in Yarmouth and, being on the coast, was able to study shipping and master the form of waves. Some of his finest marine pieces date from this time. However, he returned to Norwich in 1824 in order to improve his financial position, and showed work from 1823 to 1825 at the Society of Artists' annual exhibitions. He was collected prints, books and armour, and also had a many models of ships to help him with his compositions.
In 1825, Cotman became an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours and was a frequent exhibitor until 1839. However he was driven to despair by his constant financial struggles.
In London Cotman was friends with a number of artists including James Stark, George Cattermole, Samuel Prout and Cornelius Varley. In 1836, he became an honorary member of the Institute of British Architects.
In 1838, all of his etchings were published by Henry George Bohn including "Liber studiorum".