A Life Captured in Water and Ink The story of John Claude Nattes begins amidst the quiet uncertainties of the late eighteenth century, a time when the boundaries of his own identity remained as fluid as the medium he loved. Whether his roots reached back to France or were firmly planted in English soil remains a subject of debate among those who study his life. He emerged into the light of the art world with a remarkable gift for the draughtsman's craft, possessing an eye that could find the structural truth in a crumbling wall or a sweeping meadow. Without the formal scaffolding of a docume…