Snow Covered Rooftops in South London Watercolour Scene Winter 1981

Title: Snow Covered Rooftops in South London Watercolour Scene Winter 1981
By Tony Herbert (1927-2024)
Medium: Watercolor on paper, unframed
Size: 11.75 inches (height) x 8.75 inches (width)
Condition: good, will some signs on wear consistent with aging
Provenance: From a large private collection of this artists work, Oxford, England

Description: A moody and atmospheric winter scene captured in delicate watercolour, this 1981 work by British artist Tony Herbert (1927–2024) presents a quiet residential view from South London under a soft blanket of snow. The rooftops are rendered with minimal but precise brushwork, their snowy tops picked out in white against the cool, grey-toned background. Chimney stacks rise in uneven rows, echoing the uniform rhythm of the terraced houses below. In the foreground, a modest back garden and outbuilding are lightly dusted with snow, while a tree’s bare branches glisten in frost, adding to the seasonal stillness of the scene.

Herbert has used toned paper as his base, allowing the soft grey to serve as both sky and shadow, and adding highlights with opaque white to give the snow its distinct glow. The red-brown slates of a single roof break the monochrome palette, suggesting warmth amidst the chill. Overhead wires and TV aerials are finely drawn, grounding the piece in the specific visual language of 20th-century British suburbia.