CUMBRIA, UK – As part of its Fiftieth Anniversary, Abbot Hall Art Gallery will be exhibiting a selection of outstanding works from the magnificent collection assembled by one man, Sir Hickman Bacon (1855-1945), almost 100 years ago. It is probably the most important private holding of British eighteenth and nineteenth century watercolours in the world, and now, thanks to the generosity of the present owners, more than 40 of these masterpieces (including eighteen Turners) will be on show in Cumbria, an area that played a crucial role in the development of watercolour as the medium of choice for the itinerant artist in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century.