Artist: Alan Holtby Brown
Title: Coverdale Abbey, Yorkshire
Medium: Oil on Board
Edition: Original, One of a kind
Artwork Dimensions: 70cm x 48cm (27.5" x 19")
Frame Dimensions: 82cm x 60cm (32" x 24.5")
Condition: Image: Good. Frame: Good. Minor marks.
About the artwork
This evocative painting captures the haunting beauty of Coverham Abbey’s Gothic ruins nestled in the pastoral heart of North Yorkshire. Two soaring pointed arches dominate the composition, remnants of a once-grand ecclesiastical structure now softened by time and nature. The artist juxtaposes the ancient stonework with the quiet charm of nearby slate-roofed cottages, grounding the scene in a timeless rural setting. Gentle clouds drift across a pale sky, lending a contemplative mood that echoes the abbey’s storied past. With its harmonious palette and architectural focus, the work invites reflection on heritage, decay, and the enduring grace of sacred spaces reclaimed by the landscape.
About the Artist
Alan Holtby Brown (1936–2020) was a distinguished British landscape painter known for his evocative depictions of Northern England’s rural architecture and countryside. A native of Lancashire, Brown exhibited widely across the UK, including with the Royal Society of British Artists, and his works are held in regional collections such as Bolton Museum and Art Gallery. His style blends realism with atmospheric nuance, often capturing the quiet dignity of stone-built villages, abbey ruins, and pastoral scenes. Brown’s paintings reflect a deep reverence for heritage and place, rendered with a confident hand and a subtle, earthy palette that resonates with collectors and historians alike
