Large Mounted, Framed & Glazed Original Watercolour of Tintern Abbey Ruins, ca 1960s? by Edward Wesson (Brit. 1910-83)
Edward Wesson was an exceptionally talented British artist, demonstrator & teacher with a simple but very effective technique; best known for his watercolours, his works are known for their mastery of brushwork and are very much sought-after.
Edward ''Ted'' Wesson was born in Blackheath, London and drew much of his early inspiration from the tidal waters of the River Thames, in particular the spritsail barges that later became one of his favourite subjects. Ted was almost entirely self-taught, having suddenly felt ''an urge to paint'' in his early twenties, whilst working in the textile industry. He experimented with watercolour and particularly enjoyed the rapid technique of the medium. During World War 2 he met an Italian painter called Ascanio Tealdi, who introduced him to painting in oils. The guidance and advice of Tealdi had a great impact on him and, within three years of returning to England, his oil paintings were being accepted by the Royal Academy. The fact that his oils were accepted so readily spurred Wesson on to seek similar recognition for his watercolours and by 1952 he was a full member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, becoming one of their most consistent exhibitors and a member of the Council. He also began to exhibit regularly with the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the Royal Society of British Artists.
By the 1960s his painting was becoming more and more important to him. In addition to selling his pictures, he was lecturing and demonstrating all over the country and, as the momentum of his artistic activities increased, it became inevitable that he would have to choose between his career and his painting. Helped by the knowledge that he could, at the very least, match his business income through the sale of his pictures, he turned to painting full-time. This change of emphasis resulted in a per
...iod of intense activity, in painting, demonstrating and teaching. Being essentially self-taught gave him a valuable insight into becoming a tutor himself. He was able to understand the problems and concerns of the students all the better for having, in a sense, been in the same position himself. Another factor in the success of these courses was Ted himself; he was an excellent communicator, combining a mixture of charm, wit and understanding that came from within, with a great desire to pass on all he could in his classes. His courses were complemented by many articles on both oil and watercolour painting that he wrote for both the artist and leisure painter.
The present work is unusually large for the artist and showcases his bold, almost bravura style. I am confident that the subject is the ruins of Tintern Abbey in Monmouthshire but it seems Wesson has positioned the ruins too far to the right and has used artistic licence to balance the composition by adding a lower structure to the left hand side!
Frame Height 49.75cm x Width 65.75cm (19.5'' x c26'') & Thickness 1.5cm (0.6'')
Picture Height 32.5cm x Width 49.5cm (12.75'' x 19.5'')
Mount, frame & glass are all in very good condition, barring an occasional thunder fly and the painting is almost as bright & clean as the day it was painted.
Internal Reference: P-324050/456
Antique Number: SA1041759
Dateline of this antique is 1960
Height is 49.8cm (19.6inches)Width is 65.8cm (25.9inches)Depth is 1.5cm (0.6inches)
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