William Frederick Dickes

“ No one can deny the worth of their teachings. But the enforcement of their methods of construction by academic prescription, in other climes than their own, hindered the growth of national schools. British artists were taught to Italianise their landscapes, as did the great Wilson, and to avoid the fresh salad green—that charming feature for which their well-watered land is envied—in favour of the siennas and russet browns of the burnt-up south! ”

“ Nevertheless, no one will deny that the Norwich School has had a powerful influence upon the Art of Great Britain, and has done its best towards raising British landscape to the envied position it holds to-day throughout Europe. ”

“ Uninfluenced by prescription or tradition, but surrounded by scenery of a special sort, with the delightful features of which they could not help being in love, they boldly declared NATURE THEIR ONLY GUIDE. And, when they founded their Society and held exhibitions of their works, it soon became evident to the world that their Art was distinguished by a speciality. ”

“ One of Wilson’s pupils—the kindly, accomplished, and travelled connoisseur, Sir George Beaumont (1753–1827) —became the fashionable leader of taste in the realm of landscape. At Cole Orton Hall, his newly-built seat in Leicestershire, surrounded by his Claudes, Poussins, and Wilsons, he spent each morning in his studio, which, being on the upper floor, commanded an extensive view of wellwooded and even mountainous scenery. ”