Watercolours from The Norwich School

Visitors to the Assembly House in Norwich can enjoy a wonderful selection of pictures by artists of The Norwich School thanks to the generosity of a private Norfolk collector who has loaned to the House for this exhibition.

The 15 watercolours include Norfolk scenes which vary from river scenes to coastal pictures and there are also some familiar images of Norwich and the surrounding area.

Norwich was home to so many great artists in the 19th century and through their common aims, close master-pupil relationships as well as family ties they came together and formed the only regional school of painting in England.

Two of the great masters were John Crome and John Sell Cotman and in 1803 this loose-knit circle untied to found the Norwich Society of Artists. It was the first of many such groups that sprang up countrywide in that time.

Two years later the group held its first exhibition and this became an annual event until l833, apart from a break in 1826 and 1827. While there were many such groups established in London, this was the first society of artists to be formed outside the capital and all artists connected with it became known at a national level as The Norwich School.

Crome and Cotman became major figures in the history of British art and they inspired generations of artists after their lifetime.

The free exhibition runs until July 31 in the Hobart Room at the Assembly House, Norwich.