Learning to attach an artist's name to his/her recognizable style is like meeting an old friend every time you enter a gallery or open a book. Seeking out their work will give the best introduction to British watercolor that I know of. (Then drop their names at dinner and astonish your friends.)

Paul Sandby (1725-1809). Once considered "the Father of British Watercolor." His landscape, with their real feeling for the English countryside, influenced artists throughout the later eighteenth century.

John Robert Cozens (1752-1797). Subtle work suffused with mystery and melancholy. Authority Huon Mallalieu calls Cozens the Mozart of Watercolor. Constable called him "the greatest artist that ever touched landscape."

Thomas Girtin (1775-1802). His great breadth of handling transformed the medium. His name is often linked with that of the young Turner, who supposedly said of him, "If Tom had lived I'd have starved." Died of consumption at 27.

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851). Incomparable technique and imagination. England's greatest painter and watercolorist. Also a notable eccentric. Scholar Andrew Wilton considers Turner's watercolors among the most profound and beautiful works of art ever created.

John Varley (1778-1842). Prolific artist, prodigiously influential teacher, and father of ten children. He idealized the English landscape: "Nature wants cooking," he said. An astrologer and psychic; generous to a fault; life of the party. Died broke.

John Sell Cotman (1782-1842). A unique genius; his early watercolors seem a century ahead of their time in their boldness of design. An unhappy personal life; madness ran in the family.

David Cox (1783-1859). For many, the ideal painter of the English countryside. Full of atmosphere, his work is a fifty-year stylistic progression that ends in impressionistic looseness of handling (before the Impressionists thought of it).

Peter DeWint (1784-1849). Ranks with Cox in evoking the English countryside. The poet John Clare, a contemporary, considered him "The only artist that produces real English scenery . . . with all their poetry and exhilarating expression." Bold, fluid technique; richly colored. Favored wide, low vistas.

William Henry Hunt (1790-1864). His dazzling, jewel-like still lifes captivated Ruskin, whose writings did much to spread Hunt's reputation and influence. Lame from birth Hunt became an artist because, in his family's words, "he wasn't fit for anything else."