Nathaniel Hone, R.H.A. (1831-1917)

Hone's watercolours express a different world from his oils, sunny, relaxed and light-hearted. Although fresh and modern in feel, they evoke the leisurely world of the 19th Century 'painter traveller' in the great tradition of Turner, Edward Lear, and so on. Indeed they provide a kind of 'visual diary' of his life and travels, a record of the many locations in which he painted. His watercolour technique became of increasing importance in his use of oil. The freedom of brushwork and colour in the watercolours was of benefit to his later paintings ... Yet it is obvious that, while on location, Hone executed the watercolours for their own delight, and for that reason they form a valuable and personal part of his oeuvre (see Exhibition catalogue, Nathaniel Hone, Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, 1991, pp. 152-53).