Francis Towne (1739 - 1816) was born in Isleworth, Middlesex. In 1752 he was apprenticed to a leading coach painter in London, Thomas Brookshead. In 1759 he won a design prize from the Society of Arts, and studied for a while at St Martin’s Lane Academy. .In 1763 Towne was employed by a coach painter called Thomas Watson in Long Acre, and went to Exeter on business, where he soon settled. He had already begun painting in oils and also taught drawing, and now he began to accept commissions from wealthy families in Devon. After a tour of north Wales in 1777 he began to specialise in watercolours.
He remained an obscure figure until the early 20th century, so that the collector Paul Oppé was able to acquire numbers of important works very cheaply. Oppé was greatly impressed, especially with Towne's elegant and somewhat stylised early manner, which chimed with trends in English painting at the time, "the taste of our own century for flat colourful pattern-making", as Andrew Wilton put it in 1993. After making contact with descendants of Towne's student and friend, John Herman Merivale, Oppé discovered a collection of largely unseen works which Towne had bequeathed to Merivale. He catalogued the works and published an article about the artist in a 1919 volume of the Walpole Society journal. These writings helped to create a revival of interest in Towne, and more works began to appear on the market. By the 1950s he was widely recognised as an important figure and his works were owned by many museums, especially the British Museum and the Yale Centre for British Art. A catalogue raisonné of the artist's work is published by the Paul Mellon Centra for Studies in British Art.
For more information on Towne’s life and works see part 1.
For earlier works see parts 1 - 7 also.
This is part 8 of 10 part series on the works of Francis Towne:
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| c1791 A Lane in the Village of Heavitree, near Exeter pen and ink, watercolour 19.7 x 15.9 cm |
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| c1791 Near Dunsford Bridge watercolour 29.8 x 33 cm |
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| 1793 Convent of S. Eframo Vecchio pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour 32.4 x 49.5 cm Manchester Museum & the Whitworth, University of Manchester, UK |
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| 1793 Landscape Composition pen and black ink, watercolour 19.2 x 14 cm Private Collection |
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| 1793 Landscape Composition pen and ink, watercolour 24.4 x 17.1 cm |
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| 1793 Mer de Glace, Chamonix watercolour 59.3 x 88.2 cm Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Collections, UK |
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| 1794 Near Marlpool, Exmouth pencil, pen and brown ink, watercolour 23 x 18.5 cm The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, UK |
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| 1794 Oakhampton Castle pencil, pen and ink, watercolour 23.7 x 34.6 cm Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter City Council , UK |
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| 1795 Modern Bridge at Narni pencil, pen and brown ink, watercolour, gum 21.3 x 30 cm Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT |
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| 1795 Temple of Peace, Rome watercolour 17.8 x 24.1 cm Private Collection |
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| 1795 Waterfall pen and brown ink, watercolour 37.5 x 26 cm The Provost and Fellows of Eton College, UK |
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| 1796 A Scene in Werrington Park, near Launceston in Cornwall pencil and watercolour 14.9 x 18.7 cm |
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| 1797 A View in Hyde Park looking towards the Serpentine River pen and grey ink, grey wash 18.5 x 14.5 cm |
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| 1797 A View taken from Millbank pencil, pen and brown ink, watercolour (size not found) |
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| 1797 Hyde Park pencil, pen and brown ink, watercolour 45.1 x 36.8 cm Toledo Museum of Art |
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| 1797 In Kensington Gardens pencil, watercolour heightened with gum 18.9 x 28.1 cm Tate, London |
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| 1797 Vauxhall Stairs from Millbank pencil, pen and brown ink, watercolour 18.4 x 22.2 cm Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT |
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| c1797 A View from Millbank pencil, pen and black and brown inks, watercolour 18.4 x 22.2 cm The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London |
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| c1797 A Wharf pencil, pen and brown ink, grey wash 27.3 x 22.3 cm Leeds Museum and Galleries (Leeds Art Gallery), UK |
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| 1798 A South View in the New Forest pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour 18 x 49 cm |
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| 1798 Netley Abbey pencil, pen and ink, watercolour 17.3 x 36.3 cm Southampton City Art Gallery, Hampshire, UK |
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| 1799 A Scene taken at Newport near Launceston, Cornwall pencil, pen and grey and brown inks 14.9 x 21.6 cm Private Collection |
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| 1799 The Colosseum pencil, pen and black ink, watercolour 31 x 46.5 cm Trustees of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford, UK |
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| 1799 The Exe from below Topsham watercolour 21 x 32 cm Private Collection |
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| 1799 Werrington Park pen and brown and black inks, grey and brown washes 33.6 x 48.2 cm Private Collection |
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| 1800 Hampstead pen and black ink, blue and grey washes 21 x 36 cm |
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| 1801 A View in Werrington Park, looking from the Terrace pencil, pen and brown ink, watercolour 24 x 30.5 cm Private Collection |
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| 1801 Temple of Bacchus two miles from Rome oil on canvas 38 x 56.5 cm Private Collection |
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| 1803 A Study done at Canonteign pencil, pen and ink, watercolour 25.7 x 38.2 cm Trustees of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford, UK |
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| 1804 A Study after Nature in Peamore Park near Exeter pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour 36.9 x 26.8 cm Manchester and the Whitworth, University of Manchester, UK |
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| c1809-15 Kenilworth Castle pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour 17.8 x 25.7 cm |
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| c1812-15 Tree Study pencil, pen and grey ink, grey wash (size not found) Private Collection |
1809 Sketchbook Images 15.4 x 45.6 cm
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK:
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| 1809 Caradon Hill and Menheriott, near Liskeard, Cornwall pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Clifton, Bristol pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Going into Ugbrooke Park, Chudleigh pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 In the New Road, Buckland-in-the-Moor pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Near Holne Chase pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Near Holne Chase pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Near Holne Chase pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Near Holne Chase pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Near Holne Chase pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Near Holne Chase pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Near Mrs Bastard’s New Road, Buckland-in-the-Moor pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Near Mrs Bastard’s New Road, Buckland-in-the-Moor pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Part of Conwy Castle pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Part of Conwy pencil, pen and grey ink, blue and grey washes |
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| 1809 Shrewsbury Castle from the Bridge pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Shrewsbury from the Bridge over the Severn, with Breidden Hill in the Distance pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Shrewsbury from the River Severn pencil, pen and grey ink, blue and grey washes |
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| 1809 Snowdon from Capel Cerig pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Snowdon from Capel Cerig pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Snowdon, near Capel Cerig pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Snowdon, near Capel Cerig pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 St Michael's Mount pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 St Michael's Mount pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 St Michael's Mount pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 Tremerton Castle and Hingston Hill pencil and watercolour |
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| 1809 The New Bridge, Holne Chase pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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| 1809 From the Back Door of the Inn at Capel Cerig pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour |
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