DAVID COX, R.W.S

John, 1^st Lord Clwyd (1863–1955);

By family descent;

With WS Fine Art, London, by 2007;

Where acquired by the present owner.

New Haven, Yale Center for British Art and Birmingham, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, Sun, Wind and Rain: The Art of David Cox, 2008 - 2009, cat no. 47.

This rare watercolour dates to the summer of 1829 and was painted by David Cox, one of the most highly regarded and innovative British watercolourists of the 19^th century, during his only visit to Paris.

Cox had travelled to France with his son, David, hoping to carry out a sketching tour along the River Loire. However, soon after arriving in Paris, Cox Senior sprained his ankle and the pair were forced to change their plans. In the event they remained in the capital for six weeks, exploring the city by hired carriages, from where he sketched.

Here, Cox is positioned on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis. He looks south to the monumental Porte Saint-Denis, one of the great 'gateways' to the city, which was completed in 1672 following a commission from Louis XIV conferred upon the architect Francois Blondel (circa 1618–1686) and sculptor Michel Anguier (1604–1669). It is morning and in the foreground Cox records a lively market, busy with shoppers buying fruit and vegetables from stalls that are protected from the sun by large umbrellas and tarpaulins. A donkey, laden with a great load, is heading in our direction while, through the arch, Cox gives a glimpse of the city street's beyond by superbly capturing the play of light on the facades of the buildings on the western side of the rue Saint-Denis.

Cox was clearly intrigued by this subject for two other watercolours of the porte survive. Both are smaller than the present sheet, one, only marginally so, that shows the subject from the same view-point but where the market has only been hastily mapped out in pencil. The other, which measures 28.2 by 20 cm., is signed and dated and was probably painted back in the studio.¹

A previous owner of this watercolour was John Roberts, 1^st Baron Clwyd (1863–1955). He was member of parliament for Denbighshire West, Wales, from 1892 to 1918 and he served as Chairman of the Welsh Liberal Parliamentary Party between 1912 and 1918. He was created a baronet in 1903 and raised to the peerage in 1919. His son was the composer Mervyn Roberts (1906-1990).

¹ See London Christie's, 20 November 2003, lot 89 and London, Christie's, 3 July 2024, lot 241.