The Jurassic Coast, Dorset.
1930s

About the Item

An English watercolour on paper coastal scene signed with initials 'RS' bottom right. Presented in its original gilt wood frame under glass with trade label to the backboard from Deighton’s Strand Gallery. This gallery was well-known during the 1930s as fine art dealers and frame makers – it was located off Trafalgar square. Though he often signed with his full name Ruskin Spear's work on paper 'Hammersmith Grove' is signed in the same initials as our work and hence the attribution. This work is also stylistically similar to his other drawings of seascapes and coastal landscapes. This is a charming and fresh view of a coastal landscape probably the Jurassic coast of Dorset or his beloved Cornwall. The vertiginous composition gives it an angular almost abstract form highlighted by the contrast between the colour of the rockface, the vegetation and the blue sea. The work is in nice condition and wonderful to have the original framing. Initially influenced by Walter Sickert, the Camden Town Group, and the portraiture of the Euston Road School, Ruskin Spear's work often has a narrative quality, with elements of humour and satire. As one of the thirty eight Official War Artists in Britain in the Second World War, between 1942 and 1944, Spear was commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee, under the chairmanship of Kenneth Clark, given a short-term contract, producing several works for the scheme. Because he used a wheelchair due to childhood polio, much of his work concerned his immediate surroundings. He rendered the citizens of Hammersmith relaxing in and around the local pubs, theatres and shops. In 1980, a retrospective of Spear's work was held at the Royal Academy in London. Spear's paintings are held in important public collections in the United Kingdom, including the Tate Gallery Collection, Arts Council England, National Portrait Gallery, the Imperial War Museum, Government Art Collection and the Royal Academy of Arts, and worldwide.

Attributed to:

Ruskin Spear (1911 - 1990, British)

Creation Year:

1930s

Dimensions:

Height: 18.9 in (48 cm)Width: 15.36 in (39 cm)Depth: 1.58 in (4 cm)

Medium:

Watercolor,Paper

Movement & Style:

Impressionist

Period:

Early 20th Century