1850
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
"Towered cities please us then..." is a 1850 by John Sell Cotman, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This sketch shows a desert scene with a pyramid in the middle and a lone tree in the foreground. The tree’s twisted branches lean over a small building with columns. The sky is light and hazy, while the ground looks rough and uneven. The artist used quick, sketchy lines to suggest shadows and texture, almost like scribbles. This style makes the scene feel quick and rough, not polished. Next, look up cross-hatching to see how artists build shadows with lines.
The drawing titled "Towered cities please us then..." by John Sell Cotman depicts a pyramid-like structure set within a landscape, with trees positioned in the foreground. Created between approximately 1803 and 1820, it is part of a collection of 244 drawings illustrating subjects from literature and the Bible, produced by members of the Sketching Society, including Cotman.
Read the full account in the museum source.
John Sell Cotman (16 May 1782 – 24 July 1842) was an English marine and landscape painter, etcher, illustrator, and a leading member of the Norwich School of painters.
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