Dennis Sullivan
, Irish, 19th century
Title
Irish Cottages ('Wretched Miserable Hovels')Date1824
MediumColour aquatint
Dimensions
Plate: 17.3 x 21 cm
Sheet: 20.4 x 27 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 1968
Object numberNGI.10039.1
DescriptionFrom the later decades of the 18th century to the mid 19th century there was a great vogue for books of engravings featuring views of scenic and historical places. According to the English artist William Gilpin (1724-1894) a 'picturesque' landscape was composed of well balanced compositional elements. Gilpin's illustrated 'tours' of the English countryside functioned as instruction manuals on how to view and draw the landscape in picturesque terms. Gilpin's 'formula' for picturesque landscape was highly influential and can be seen in many of Sullivan's views. Aquatint, with its flat, crisply defined areas of colour was ideally suited for topographical prints as it mimicked the qualities of watercolour. This book was aimed at an English readership and the introduction extols the beauties of the unspoilt Irish countryside: '…the valetudinarian in search of health will discover, among the mountains and wild heaths, along the shores, and in the sequestered vales of Ireland, a bracing and a genial mildness of atmosphere, that will richly repay him for the search.'