The Emergence of the Professional Watercolourist : Contentions and Alliances in the Artistic Domain, 1760-1824

Accounts of the key artists who furthered the development of the art of watercolours have long been a feature of the history of British art, but this is the first book to place the watercolourists' achievement in the broader context of the emergence of a new professional group with its own distinctive identity. Beautifully illustrated and drawing on a wealth of primary research, this book examines the multifarious relationship that evolved between watercolourists and oil painters, artisans and amateurs in this period and, in particular, describes the alliances they forged in order to enhance their status and ensure the commercial viability of their work.