John ‘Warwick’ Smith

KT494

Inscribed on original mount in pen and brown ink: Portland., watercolour over pencil

13.3 x 22.5 cm.; 5 ¼ x 8 7/8 inches

Frame size 27 x 35.5 cm.; 10 5/8 x 14 inches

Provenance

Cothill Antiques, sold on 1 July 1970 to

Thomas Agnew & Sons Ltd., no. 33077, catalogue no. 30;

Private collection, U.K. 1971 - 2021

The artist was born in Cumberland and patronised by 2nd Earl of Warwick who sponsored his travels to Italy in 1776 and whose name became the artist’s sobriquet. Smith spent five years in Rome and Naples, befriending William Pars and Thomas Jones, in whose Memoirs he is frequently referenced. He was one of the most admired watercolourists of his day.