On the Thames (c. 1827–29): Art, History and Details

On the Thames (c. 1827–29) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is David Cox (British, 1783–1859).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

One of the great champions of watercolor painting during the first half of the 19th century, David Cox is most celebrated for his atmospheric landscapes that convey a sense of movement and light as affected by nature. Here, translucent streaks of blue and gray in the sky suggest movement among the clouds, and small dashes of color throughout the foreground trees create a sense of rustling vegetation. Reflections on the river’s surface shimmer with light.

Object facts

• Title: On the Thames
• Date: c. 1827–29
• Creator attribution: David Cox (British, 1783–1859)
• Culture: England, 19th century
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: watercolor with graphite and scraping
• Dimensions: Sheet: 19.8 x 27.1 cm (7 13/16 x 10 11/16 in.)
• Collection: DR - British
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 2005.201

A detail from the museum

David Cox began his career as a painter of theatrical scenery in his native Birmingham.

Collection credit

Gift of the Painting and Drawing Society of The Cleveland Museum of Art

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lemonedes, Heather. "Quintessentially British". Cleveland Art (July/August 2007): 8-11.
• Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.