Returning to the Fold, Watercolour by W. Tatton Winter

A fine watercolour by the artist William Tatton Winter Rba, 1855-1928, titled ‘Returning to the fold’. The work is typical of the artist with a wonderful control of the medium and a depiction that evokes perfectly the wild and windy landscape of winter. The painting is in excellent condition with the colours bright and true. The work is signed to the lower left. William Tatton Winter, Rba (1855-1928) was a watercolour and landscape artist, and member of the Royal Society of British Artists. He grew up in poverty and left school at an early age to work, however he managed to study at evening classes and at the Manchester Academy of Arts. His employers supported him, and Ford Madox Brown (while working for Manchester Town Hall) gave him advice. His acquaintance Mr Alfred Taylor assisted him to meet John Ruskin and Holman Hunt, and to study in Belgium, Holland, France and Spain, and then to study under Verlat in Antwerp. His first exhibition for the Rba was in 1886, and Queen Victoria bought some of his works. He exhibited in various international venues. He was a member of the British Society of Artists in Watercolours, and he became a member of the London Sketch Club in 1902. Around 1924 he painted a miniature watercolour picture of the windmill on Reigate Heath for the King's Library in the Queen's Dolls House. He was hugely successful and exhibited at every major gallery including 32 works at the Royal Academy and a staggering 294 works at the Rba. His style was heavily influenced by his time on the continent, with a use of bold washes and scratching out giving his work a unique ethereal feel. This piece is a fine example of his work in a modern mount and frame. The reverse of the work gives the title and it is likely to have been exhibited at the Rba exhibition in 1890. Overall sizes in inches including frame: 19 ¼ by 15 ¾