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Prague conforms to the format of the lithographs in both volumes in its large scale, vertical format, and bold design and was based on sketches made between 1842 and 1843, when he was touring Germany and its neighboring countries, including Bohemia. In 1840 his sister Mary had moved to Darmstadt, Germany, and when Boys visited her, he took the opportunity to scour the region for picturesque subject matter, perhaps with another publication of lithographs in mind. He showed a view of Prague immediately upon his return in 1843 and again in 1847, both with the Society of Painters in Water-Colours.4 Few of his original sketches survive, leaving us with little idea of Boys's methods. William Callow (cat. nos. 81-82) recalled how in the 1830s Boys would simply "ramble about the ancient part of the cité of Paris in search of old buildings to sketch." We know from Boys's own testimony that he liked to wander unencumbered, for he dismissed the idea of carrying a sketching stool: "An artist brings his arse to the ground or stands." This view of the old towers of Prague maintains the spirit of the sketch in its sheer brio. Unlike the heavily worked exhibition watercolors of contemporaries such as George Fennel Robson (cat. no. 64) or Copley Fielding (cat. no. 63), Boys relied on watercolor's full transparency, using a variety of touches and marks to make the painting sparkle with vibrant color and brightness.

Matthew Hargraves

Hargraves, Matthew, and Scott Wilcox. Great British Watercolors: from the Paul Mellon collection. New Haven: Yale Center for British Art, 2007, p. 170, no. 74