The Remarks Tours and Colourful UK pictures 1837-42
3.1. Falaise Castle, Rev J L Petit
c1839, 27x21cm, watercolour on paper, private collection.
Petit travelled frequently all over France in later years after 1850, and returned to paint Falaise again several times, for example in 1859 and 1863 with his sister Emma (see 8.4). While the later pictures are more complex, none match the finish and mood of this first time.
3.2 Louviers, France, Rev J L Petit
c1839, 27x21cm, watercolour on paper, private collection.
‘The rich flamboyant porch is well known by engravings. The elevation of the west front would be pleasing but for a heavy unfinished tower attached to the north aisle, which even in its present state out-tops the square central one’ Remarks Vol II, p259.
3.3 Hougoumont Chapel, Belgium, Rev J L Petit (1801-68)
c1837, 18x10cm, watercolour on paper, private collection.
This was done on one of the earlier trips through Belgium, down the Rhine through Germany and Switzerland. A small picture drawn just 20+ years after the battle of Waterloo, showing the chapel at Hougoumont which survived the battle practically unscathed.
3.4 Roman Remains, Nr Nice, Rev J L Petit (1801-68),
c1839, 14x23cm, watercolour on paper, private collection.
Petit also painted a number of other landscape views on the Remarks tour, and finished them carefully. Here are shown the Roman Remains near Nice, which he describes on p228 of Vol 2.
3.5 Nr Ventimiglia, Rev J L Petit
c1839, 23x21cm, watercolour on paper, private collection.
Ventimiglia is in Italy,near the French border. There is an inscription verso in pencil describing the view, which had impressed him. Petit was to paint views of mountain ranges in the distance frequently on his later sketching tours too, especially in the Pyrenees (see 8.). Sometimes these are more dramatic, but none are as carefully finished as those of 1839.
3.6 Norbury Church, Derbyshire, Rev J L Petit
1838, 18x25cm, watercolour on paper, private collection.
Petit spent 6 weeks in the dove valley between Staffordshire and Derbyshire in the spring of 1838, painting Norbury and Ashbourne (see 3.11 below) churches and nearby landscapes many times. Seemingly he was experiementing with new styles and anbgles to see what would work best for his book, before his last visits to the continent in 1838/9 before publication of Remarks
3.7 Shipping, Portsmouth, Rev J L Petit
c1838, 18x25cm, watercolour on paper, courtesy of Special Collections, Hartley Library, University of Southampton.
Petit undertook several trips in the southern counties collecting examples for Remarks, and painted some wonderful shipping and landscapes. This and the following two pictures are preserved in an album at the University of Southampton
3.8 Winchester, Rev J L Petit
c1838, 22x25cm, watercolour on paper, courtesy of Special Collections, Hartley Library, University of Southampton.
Colourful pictures whether of churches or broader views have a level of finish and variety of colour tones that Petit does not use later.
3.9 St Catherine’s, Isle of Wight, Rev J L Petit
c1838, 22x25cm, watercolour on paper, courtesy of Special Collections, Hartley Library, University of Southampton.
This picture was used as a basis of an illustration in the book.
3.10 Ashbourne Church, Derbyshire, Rev J L Petit
c 1838, 24x18cm, watercolour on paper, private collection.
Petit painted intensively in the North Staffs and South Derbyshire region during in April1838, with Ashbourne drawn from at least 5 different angles, as were Leigh and Norbury see 3.1 above), although eventually Ashbourne was not used in Remarks. It Norbury and Leigh all feature in Petit’s Tours of Old Staffordhsire, a forthcoming book due 2019.