Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The neighborhood where Bolton Abbey was found was one of David Cox's favorite places to paint and the church appeared as a subject throughout his works from about 1828 through 1857.

Description

This moody, broadly painted watercolor on rough, brown paper is emblematic of David Cox’s late style. Velvety grays and greens throughout the composition shift almost imperceptibly and streaks of blue wash, describing the distant hills and sky, are pierced by a sliver of brilliant yellow at the horizon. The ruined 12th-century priory is relegated to the background, nearly lost in the twilight.

Inscriptions

Inscription

inscribed, at lower right, in graphite: WSE; in white chalk on wood backing: June 8-03

Provenance

1912

(sale, Victor G. Fischer Company Collection, Anderson Galleries, New York, February 19, 1912, no. 655)

?-1931

James Parmelee [1855-1931], Washington, DC, by descent to Alice Maury Parmelee

1931-1940

Alice Maury Parmelee [1866-1940], Washington, DC, bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH through the Estate of James Parmelee

1940-

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Francis, Henry S. "The Bequest of James Parmelee." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 28, no. 2 (February 1941): 15-27, 31. Mentioned: p. 17 www.jstor.org

Brumbaugh, Thomas B. "David Cox in American Collections." Connoisseur 197, no. 792 (February 1978): 83-88. Reproduced: p. 85, no. 5

Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Mentioned: pp. 70-73, 144, no. 22b; Reproduced: pp. 72-73

Exhibition history

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

European Watercolors Through the 18th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 14-March 22, 1964).

British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).