Dover Castle from the Canterbury Road

Peter DeWint’s style is characterised by broad, sweeping washes and a masterly command of tonality. His tendency to simplify the forms of nature provoked John Ruskin to remark that while DeWint can ‘teach you to make a forcible sketch of an atmospheric effect … he smothers all detail’. DeWint made frequent sketching tours throughout England and Wales, and his work shows a predilection for wide, panoramic views of relatively featureless countryside. This watercolour is typical of the formal and more finished exhibition pieces painted during the last decade of the artist’s life.