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Cotman, John Sell, 1782-1842 Middleton Tower Etching

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John Sell Cotman
1782-1842

In the opinion of Lawrence Binyon, J. S. Cotman created "the most perfect examples of pure water-color ever made in Europe." Cotman was born in Norwich and educated at Norwich Grammar School, where he was encouraged to draw by an enlightened headmaster. After a brief period in his father's drapery business, he went to London in 1789, finding employment with the print publisher Ackermann and earning the patronage of Dr. Thomas Monro, at whose home he came to know the work of the leading watercolorists of the period.