JOHN LINNELL (BRITISH, 1792-1882)

Study of Southampton from the river near Netley Abbey captures the romantic hours of sunset - the clouds burning pink and the sun's golden glow dancing on the water whilst bathing the sands with a warm hue. Seemingly drawn on the spot, straight onto the double pages of a sketchbook, the present drawing acted as inspiration and reference for the later oil painting of Southampton (see lot 133), commissioned by Chambers Hall who, in reference to that picture, perfectly articulates the beauty of Linnell’s sunset: ‘You have indeed realised ideas which I had long cherished of a most magnificent effect of nature […]’ (John Linnell, A Centennial Exhibition, Cambridge, 1982, p. 23).
The oil refers closely to the watercolour - the motifs of the light dancing upon the water, boats sailing along the skyline and the wispy clouds obscuring the setting sun recur in both. Variation between the two resides in the addition of figures in the oil’s foreground. However, the similarity between the two remains uncanny.