XII views in Aquatinta from Drawings Taken on the Spot in South-Wales

The publication of Sandby’s two volumes of aquatint engravings, XII Views in Aquatinta from Drawing Taken on the Spot in South-Wales in 1775 and XII Views in North Wales in 1776, was hugely influential in the development of Wales as a destination for artists. These volumes contain aquatints of sketches Sandby completed during a tour of Wales in 1770 with Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, a Welsh patron of the arts who supported many artists abroad through purchases made on the Grand Tour, including Richard Wilson, whose two great views painted for Wynn are in the Center’s collection. However, Sir Watkin’s support of Welsh artists and promotion of Welsh subject matter, exemplified by his sponsorship of Sandby’s tour, were unique. This particular tour, undertaken by Sandby, Sir Watkin, and the botanist Joseph Banks, is considered one of the first sketching tours of the Welsh landscape. Sandby’s views helped to set the artistic itinerary, identifying location that subsequent artists would visit. This work is equally important in the development and dissemination of aquatint engraving, a new printing technique. It allowed for fluidity and shading in a way that was impossible to accomplish using earlier printing methods and, in more accurately replicating the techniques of the artists of the times, the images it produced bore more resemblance to watercolors.