A loose and atmospheric watercolour of the North Wales countryside by David Cox. It features expressive brushwork and a dramatic sky over a river and trees.

David Cox was a leading figure in the English watercolour school. He spent much of his later career visiting Bettws-y-Coed in North Wales. This work captures the atmospheric conditions of the Welsh countryside. The composition features a cluster of trees in the middle ground. Their foliage is rendered with broad washes of green and brown. To the right, a river reflects the light of a turbulent sky. The sky occupies a large portion of the paper. Cox used wet-on-wet techniques to suggest moving clouds and shifting light. The blue pigments are concentrated in the upper corners. These fade into grey and white towards the horizon. This approach creates a sense of immediacy. The distant mountains are suggested with pale purple and blue tones. This provides a sense of scale and distance. Cox often used a rough, textured paper known as Scotch paper. This surface allowed the pigment to settle in the grain. It added physical texture to the image. His style became increasingly loose and gestural in his final years. This piece is a characteristic example of his ability to record the effects of wind and light on the natural world. It avoids precise detail to capture a specific moment.