EDWARD WILLIAM COOKE, R.A., F.R.S., F.Z.S., F.S.A., F.G.S. (1808-1880)
NAPLES FROM MARGELLINA WITH THE CASTEL DELL'OVO AND VESUVIUS BEYOND
Signed and dated l.l. 1864Oil on paper
22.5 x 44 cm
PROVENANCE
Anonymous Sale, Bonhams, London, 22.09.2015, Lot 14
The present work is likely a study for a larger, studio version of the scene which was sold at Bonham's, Knightsbridge, 27.02.2007, lot 86 (for £24,000). Another painting by Cooke in oils on paper and of the same dimensions as our work ('Salerno, drying nets, Mountains of Paestum in the distance') was sold at Sotheby's, London, 21.03.2002: that work also corresponded to a larger version, painted upon Cooke's return from Italy, and we may assume therefore that both it and the present study were painted in-situ by Cooke.
Edward William Cooke was born in London, the son of the well-established engraver George Cooke and nephew of the engraver William Bernard Cooke. Edward was therefore raised in the company of artists and distinguished himself from an early age, displaying a preference for marine scenes early on in his career. His Shipping and Craft, a series of plates showing maritime views, was published when the artist was just 18, and launched him as one of England's premier marine artists.
Cooke received guidance from a number of his family's artistic friends, including Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts, two of the finest watercolourists of their generation. Like both Stanfield and Roberts, Cooke painted in oils and watercolours, and was a prolific and at times highly idiosyncratic draughtsman, exhibiting the former from 1835 at the Royal Academy and the British Institution. Cooke was particularly enamoured of the Dutch marine artists of the 17th century, and visited Holland for the first time in 1837, returning frequently over the next 23 years. The artist was so loved by the Dutch that they dubbed him 'Van Kooke' - a badge of honour that the artist wore so proudly that many of his canvases were signed 'Kooke'.
Alongside his accomplishments in art, Cooke was a member of the Linnean Society, the Geological Society, the Zoological Society, the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Society.