AN exhibition of paintings of North-East landscapes goes on show at one of the region's museums this summer.

The Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, County Durham, is to stage Sense and Sensibility, an exhibition of work by John Sell Cotman.

The exhibition marks the bicentenary of Cotman's visits to Teesdale and Yorkshire.

The exhibition has been produced with Harewood House, in Leeds, and more than 50 works will be on show.

Cotman made three visits to the region between 1803 and 1805, and stayed with the Morritt family at Rokeby, near Barnard Castle.

Laurence Binyon, a keeper of print and drawings at the British Museum in the 1930s, described Cotman's visits to the region as "the making of the most extraordinarily beautiful watercolours ever painted".

Adrian Jenkins, the director of the Bowes Museum, said: "This year marks the bicentenary of Cotman's travels around our region.

"While a contemporary of Turner, Cotman remains far less well known. We hope that this comprehensive survey of his work will go some way for Cotman to be more widely recognised as one of the great watercolourists of the 19th Century."

The exhibition will be at the Bowes Museum from May 7 to July 31. For details, call (01833) 690606 or visit www. bowesmuseum.org.uk