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Places by water
•Places by water have always presented artists with many challenges and opportunities. The vastness of the sea, distant horizons, waters changeability, the way it responds to wind and weather, cloud filled skies or vast emptiness all have to be treated in their own way. Often the techniques that apply to paintings of places on land don’t apply to paintings of water. Artistic devices such as one-point perspective are difficult to achieve and distance has to be expressed in different ways.
•Movement is very often an important part of paintings of water and artists have experimented with different techniques to achieve this. Look at the work A Large Diver (Paper Pool 27), 1978 and Picture of a Hollywood Swimming Pool, 1964 by British artist David Hockney.
•Light is another important consideration as water can reflect light and create stunning effects and moods. Look at the work of Joseph Mallord William Turner to see how powerful these images can be.
•Places by water can also provide a setting for a range of human activity and it is these that are often the subject matter for places by water, such as boat building, travel and voyages, fishing and recreation. Artists have frequently painted images of people enjoying themselves at the beach or around a swimming pool. Look at the work Portrait of an Artist (Pool with two figures), 1972 by David Hockney.
•We have selected a range of artworks inspired by water from our Collections which we are certain you will recognise.
Do any of these places by water seem familiar? CLICK on the images below to find out more!
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