Holland came to London from his native Staffordshire in 1819, concentrating at first on the flower painting he had been taught by his mother. He turned to landscape thereafter, influenced heavily by the work of Bonington, which can be clearly felt in this lovely, sleepy depiction of the London skyline from the Blackheath slopes. This very well preserved example dates from the early 1830's, when Holland's work was at “a peak of perfection”, according to Ruskin, who attended the 'Art Treasures Exhibition' in Manchester in 1857, where this watercolour was exhibited. Today, the best collections of Holland's work can be found in the British Museum, the V&A, the Ashmolean and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

Provenance: Agnews