George BARRET JR (British 1767 - 1842) Watercolour Acquired from Sotheby's London 50 x 45 cm. This watercolour, with its two figures taking the air near an imposing classical building, against a backdrop which combines the urban and the pastoral, is the work of late 18th and early 19th Century British watercolourist George Barret Junior. A typically atmospheric piece, it is also a god demonstration of the artist's mastery of detail and complex visual style, with its juxtaposition of tall trees and classical colonnades, and in particular its use of light; the use of sun and moonlight was one of Barret's signature. A founder member of the influential Old Watercolour Society in 1804, Barret was one of the leading watercolourists of the day, specialising in Arcadian, romanticised landscapes. He came from an artistic family; his father was the equally famous Irish landscape artist George Barret Senior.