Watercolour: A Celebration of Three Centuries of English Art

A survey of English watercolour from the work of early topographers to modern and contemporary artists such as Peter Coker and Ronald Searle. Around 400 works are included in the exhibition, including landscapes, portraits, still lifes and illustrations, informal sketches and largescale finished works. Watercolour's popularity as a portable medium is examined in the work of artists who depicted famous sights on the Grand Tour, and in the work of Official War Artists during WWI and WWII. Also examined is the formation of professional bodies, such as the Society of Painters in Water Colours. The show concludes by looking at experimental approaches to the medium during the twentieth century.