History of

Watercolor
Painting
Objectives
Understand that Albrecht Durer is the western artist
who 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 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
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 Drer
In the West, Albrecht Drer
(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 The Wire-Drawing Mill. 1489.
ended up using a Watercolour and gouache on
combination of transparent paper
and opaque watercolors to
produce colored drawings.
Albrecht Drer
(German)
A Young Hare
1502, watercolor and
gouache on paper,
25 x 23 cm
Albrecht Drer
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
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, 1785-
1851) 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 Virginian Partridge, 1829
medium.
John James Audubon

Trumpeter Swan

Golden Eagle
Watercolor Paintings
Today