Objectives
 Understand that Albrecht Durer is the western artist who
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began a major change in watercolor painting
Learn the importance of various artists’ contribution to
watercolor painting
Recognize the characteristics of watercolor painting
Understand the impact the invention of paper had on
watercolor painting
Recognize the change of watercolor painting from a craft to
a fine art
On a timeline, place watercolor painting as it began to
evolve into a fine art after the Renaissance
In the beginning…
 The use of watercolors dates back to
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prehistoric times with cavemen painting on
cave walls
Some illuminated manuscripts were made
with watercolor paint
It was not until about A.D. 500 that
watercolor painting came to be considered a
fine art, when Chinese poet-painters helped
it evolve from being primarily a decorative
craft in the East.
Chinese and Japanese masters painted on silk
as well as exquisite handmade paper.
Their art was filled with calligraphy, but the
main image was usually a landscape.
This characteristic became a central theme of
Western watercolor traditions in later
centuries.
Invention of Paper
 Paper has also played an important role in the
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development of watercolor.
China has been manufacturing paper since ancient
times.
The Arabs learned their secrets during the eighth
century.
Paper was imported to Europe until the first
papermaking mills were finally established in Italy in
1276.
A few other mills developed later in other parts of
Europe, while England developed its first mills by 1495.
However, high-quality paper was not produced in
Britain until much later during the eighteenth century.
Watercolor as a sketch…
 Since paper was considered a luxury item in
these early ages, traditional Western
watercolor painting was slow in evolving.
 The increased availability of paper by the
fourteenth century finally allowed for the
possibility of drawing as an artistic activity.
 So artists like Leonardo da Vinci and
Michelangelo began to develop drawings as
a tool for practice and for recording
information.
Albrecht Dürer
 In the West, Albrecht Dürer
(1471-1528) has been credited
with upgrading the level of
watercolors and began using
them for more than
sketching and planning.
 Primarily a printmaker, he
was looking for a way to
color areas of his prints and
ended up using a
combination of transparent
and opaque watercolors to
produce colored drawings.
The Wire-Drawing Mill. 1489.
Watercolour and gouache on paper
Albrecht Dürer
 (German)
 A Young Hare
1502, watercolor and
gouache on paper,
25 x 23 cm
Albrecht Dürer
 The Large Piece of Turf,
1503
watercolor and gouache on
yellowed paper
41 x 32 cm
Paper in England after 1768
 In 1770, England began producing paper made especially for
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watercolor paint.
With the production of higher quality papers ,first national
school of watercolorists emerged in Britain.
This watercolor tradition began with landscape drawings from
the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries as Britain
began to grow as a world power.
These map-like paintings were of ports of sea, as well as the
surrounding landscape.
The most talented watercolorist from this period was Joseph
M.W. Turner (English, 1775-1851) who went on to become one of
the greatest painters of the nineteenth century. His landscapes
influenced dozens of artists during later decades.
Joseph Mallard William Turner
 J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851)
(English) applied new
transparent and opaque
watercolors with sponges,
rags, and knives, as well as
with brushes.
 He is considered part of
the original English
(transparent) watercolor
school.
 For many years, English
watercolor painters were
more skilled than any
other artists in the world
Warkworth Castle, Northumberland Thunder Storm Approaching at Sun-Set.
1799. Watercolour on paper
Joseph Mallard William Turner
View of Saint-Germain-ea-Laye and Its
Chateau. Watercolour on paper
 Early watercolorists ground their own pigments, but
by the late eighteenth century the Englishman,
William Reeves, was selling them in portable cakes.
 In 1846, Winsor & Newton introduced colors
packaged in metal tubes.
 This growing technology encouraged many European
artists to experiment with watercolors until eventually
the tradition spread to America.
Capturing the NEW WORLD on paper
 The earliest watercolor drawings produced in America were
created for factual documentation of the "new world."
 As early as the 1560's, European explorers carried this visual
information back to the "old world".
America Gradually Excels
 European watercolorists were still superior to Americans.
 Gradually, skilled and talented artists from America began
to develop artworks which challenged European artists.
 American artists saw watercolor as a primary medium
equal to oil painting.
 This was not common in nineteenth century Europe except
in England.
 By 1866, the interest in the medium was strong and for the
first time watercolors were shown in galleries among oil
paintings.
American Artists Take the Lead
 America's contribution to the
international watercolor
tradition is second to none.
 Although the British
dominated that tradition in the
past, American artists have
produced a important and
varied body of work in
watercolor that is unmatched
elsewhere in the world since
the late eighteenth century.
 Artists such as Winslow
Homer, John Singer Sargent,
John James Audubon are
famous for their major works in
watercolor paints.
Winslow Homer
(American)
1836-1910
Boys and Kitten,
1873
Winslow Homer
The Blue Boat
1892
Water color
JOHN SINGER SARGENT
(American)
1856-1925
Muddy Alligators,
1917
John Singer Sargent
Gondoliers’ Siesta
1904
John James Audubon
 The paintings of American
wildlife by John James
Audubon (American, 17851851) became famous.
 Audubon did his first study in
1805. He eventually devoted
himself to painting the
animals and plants of North
America with such skill that
no other artist has equaled in
any other medium.
Virginian Partridge, 1829
John James Audubon
Trumpeter Swan
Golden Eagle
Watercolor Paintings Today