James Duffield Harding

JAMES DUFFIELD HARDING (Deptford, 1798 - Barnes, 1863).
"Landscape."
Pencil on paper.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 18 x 25 cm; 35 x 38 cm (frame).
James Duffield Harding was a leading British landscape painter, lithographer and author, recognized especially for his contribution to the development of watercolor and art education in the 19th century. The son of a master draughtsman trained by Paul Sandby, Harding received a solid training in perspective and drawing as a child, later supplemented by lessons from the artist Samuel Prout.
From a very young age he showed a precocious talent: at the age of thirteen he was already exhibiting works at the Royal Academy. After a brief training as an engraver with Charles Pye, he decided to devote himself fully to watercolor painting, a technique with which he achieved great recognition. In 1818 he began to exhibit at the Society of Painters in Watercolours, of which he became a full member in 1821.
Harding was noted for his technical innovation and for his influence on the evolution of British watercolor. Inspired in part by J. M. W. Turner, he used dyed papers and opaque colors to achieve atmospheric and luminous effects of great modernity.
In addition to being a painter, he was an important lithographer and educator and published numerous collections of drawing studies and manuals for students and amateurs alike. Harding also collaborated with the firm Winsor & Newton, which marketed papers and drawing materials under his name.