Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011104Traveler in a Woodland Landscape
About the Artwork
John Sell Cotman left his native Norfolk at the young age of 16 and traveled to London with the aspiration to be an artist. His work evolved at a rapid pace as he developed a highly original style remarkable for its simple elegance and schematic treatment of the natural world. This landscape was made soon after a trip to Yorkshire. Cotman largely ignored the noteworthy landmarks of the area, preferring obscure views—trees, crumbling stone walls, and dilapidated fences. Inspired by the Greta woods, the straining bows of the trees form a beautifully balanced structure of geometric and amorphous shapes.
Provenance
?-?: Eric Hinde ?-1991: (Davis and Langdale, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) 1991-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Notable Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 15, 1991). Nature Sublime: Landscapes from the 19th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 15-November 14, 2004). British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- John Sell Cotman (British, 1782–1842)
- Date
- 1806
- Medium
- graphite and gray wash
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 30.3 x 21 cm (11 15/16 x 8 1/4 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Delia E. Holden Fund
- Accession no.
- 1991.22
More by John Sell Cotman in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00011104
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