These two watercolours present views of Castleton and the Peak Cavern one painted by the artist John Webber (main illustration) and the other by his companion William Day during a joint expedition to the Peaks of Derbyshire which were still wild and untamed.

Webber accompanied Captain Cook as official artist on his third circumnavigation of the world. Day meanwhile was a keen amateur painter and a geologist with a pronounced interest in his natural surroundings. Webber and DayÂ’s tour provides an interesting example of a two-way professional-amateur relationship. The works will be displayed alongside one another at Buxton, allowing for a comparison of the differing approaches both to painting and to the landscapes that they studied.

Artists include

Provenance

John Webber: Charles Nugent, 1994. William Day: Stephen Sommerville c.1990; Charles Nugent, c.1990. The work has been vetted by the Art Loss Register.


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