Peter De Wint, O.W.S.

M. Hardie, Water-colour Painting in Britain, vol. II, The Romantic Period, London 1967, pl. 206;
D. Scrase (ed.), Drawings and watercolours by Peter de Wint, Cambridge 1979, no. 7, no. 35, pl. 20;
H. Smith, Peter de Wint, 1784–1849, London 1982, p. 80, no. 77

John Moyer Heathcote (1834-1912), one of de Wint's pupils, described de Wint's method of making still lifes; 'he would take any convenient objects he could find in the room and set them in a group on the table, with a towel or other white cloth carelessly thrown against them'.¹

De Wint still lifes are rare, and his broad washes make full use of the texture of the paper. Comparisons have been made with the work of Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) in the purity and simplicity of both handling and subject matter. Martin Hardie, author of Water-colour Painting in Britain (1967) wrote: 'these still-lifes reveal a distinct side of de Wint's genius'.²

1. Sir W. Armstrong, Memoir of Peter de Wint, London 1888, p. 68
2. Hardie, op. cit., p. 213