Paul Sandby RA (17311809) has long been considered the father of English watercolour painting. Presiding over the professionalisation and popularisation of the medium, he painted views throughout Britain, finding new scenes in a country experiencing rapid social and commercial development, and portraying familiar ones with a fresh eye. In this magnificent survey, published to celebrate the artist's bicentenary, leading authorities draw on new research to offer fresh perspectives on Sandby's work and the development of eighteenth-century British art. His role as a teacher and his innovations in printmaking are explored, as is the cultural and geographical scope of his work. Encompassing rural, urban, modern and historical themes, his art is unrivalled among that of his contemporaries for its remarkable range.