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Publication date: May 2025

Paperback – 240 × 295 mm – 176 pages

Ninety illustrations in colour

ISBN 9781843682646

Curated and introduced by Ian Warrell, the leading expert on Turner, this selection from the fabled Hickman Bacon collection is one of the finest groups of British watercolours in existence, and hardly ever seen or reproduced. Centred around 32 paintings by Turner, including some of his breathtaking views of the Alps, early views, and late cloud and sea studies, the collection also encompasses some of the greatest works by Turner's contemporaries: John Sell Cotman, Alexander Cozen, Thomas Girtin, Peter de Wint, John Crome, David Cox and others.

Beautifully printed on heavy uncoated paper, with some reproductions life size, this book conveys the intensity and freshness and stupendous virtuosity of these artists whose work in watercolour has never been rivalled. An extended essay by the leading expert and former Tate curator Ian Warrell examines the paintings and gives a vivid picture of the artists who made them.