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Italian Landscape
Also known as: A River Landscape with Distant Mountains and Sea; An extensive Italian landscape, probably taken from the road to Velletri, south of Rome, with a distant view of the coast; Landscape Compostion with Italian and English Elements
About the Artwork
During the 18th century, views of Italy and the Continent were in great demand among British aristocrats on the Grand Tour. Cozens journeyed to Italy and Switzerland twice in his career, making pencil and wash sketches from which he later derived highly finished watercolors for various patrons. The artist’s somber palette, limited to muted greens, grays, and blues, produces a melancholy, hazy effect in this landscape. The site depicted here has thus far proved unidentifiable and may be an amalgamation of memory and imagination. The left portion of the composition relates to another watercolor depicting a view of Velletri, a town outside of Rome; the cottage and trees in the right foreground seem English, and the central plain and winding river appear to be pure invention.
Exhibition history
Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002). British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- John Robert Cozens (British, 1752–1797)
- Date
- c. 1790–92
- Medium
- watercolor over graphite
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 48.7 x 66.9 cm (19 3/16 x 26 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Accession no.
- 1997.137
Provenance
?-?: Mr. Eden ?-?: Mr. Deverell ?-?: Mrs. Deverell ?-?: William Eden ?-1979: Norman D. Newell, New York, NY 1979: (his sale, Christie's, London, December 13, 1979, no. 25) after 1979-before 1996: Private Collection 1996: (sale, Sotheby's, London, November 14, 1996, no. 59) probably 1996-1997: (Spink-Leger Pictures, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) 1997-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
More by John Robert Cozens in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011049
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