Falmouth

Although Richard had experimented with the panorama format before 1936, this painting seems to be one of the first where he took it seriously, creating a work 1m wide. It slightly predates the three better known panoramas in the 1938 Redfern Gallery show - Mousehole Harbour, Cornwall (1937), Low Tide, Porthleven (1937) and Constantine, Cornwall (1937).

There are some uncertainties around the title of this work and what the picture represents. The sketch below seems to be the inspiration behind it. Richard simply titles the combined sketches, "Frieze of Ships etc". There is no sign of the Cutty Sark which …

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Although Richard had experimented with the panorama format before 1936, this painting seems to be one of the first where he took it seriously, creating a work 1m wide. It slightly predates the three better known panoramas in the 1938 Redfern Gallery show - Mousehole Harbour, Cornwall (1937), Low Tide, Porthleven (1937) and Constantine, Cornwall (1937).

There are some uncertainties around the title of this work and what the picture represents. The sketch below seems to be the inspiration behind it. Richard simply titles the combined sketches, "Frieze of Ships etc". There is no sign of the Cutty Sark which features in the painting.

The painting has been known as "Falmouth Coronation Review of the Mercantile Fleet", a title possibly given to it by the Ash Barn Gallery, but on the back the title is inscribed just as "Falmouth" 1936 or "Falmouth 1936" depending on how you interpret the writing.

We cannot find any record of a coronation review of ships off Falmouth around 1936. The nearest we can get is the 1937 Coronation Fleet Review in May 1937, but that was at Spithead off Portsmouth. The mention of the Cutty Sark, an antique tea cutter now in Greenwich, fits in with Falmouth because it had been moored there since 1922 and used by retired sea Captain Wilfred Dowman as a training ship until his death in 1938 according to Wikipedia.

The painting was acquired by the collector in 1977. He says in a note to Richard's daughter, " I bought [it] at the same time as the Silver Jubilee painting of 1977 which you will recall is a very gloomy canvas, reflecting your father’s mood at the time [since his son Crispin's early death the previous year] & the weather on the day which I can well remember because I was there! I was expecting more flags etc so Werner [of the Ash Barn Gallery] produced the earlier painting which I bought on the spot."

No, the title inscribed on the work, I think, is entirely appropriate. Though the bunting being flown by the vessels might either have been either to mark a special occasion or have been added by the artist for effect, this gathering of vessels was a normal scene for Falmouth Docks. I say this because the same could be witnessed in the 1960s, albeit with a later generation of ships, yet belonging to the same shipping companies. Off to the right of the painting, where the brick building just appears, are the Falmouth dry docks. The cargo liners and oil tankers …

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No, the title inscribed on the work, I think, is entirely appropriate. Though the bunting being flown by the vessels might either have been either to mark a special occasion or have been added by the artist for effect, this gathering of vessels was a normal scene for Falmouth Docks. I say this because the same could be witnessed in the 1960s, albeit with a later generation of ships, yet belonging to the same shipping companies. Off to the right of the painting, where the brick building just appears, are the Falmouth dry docks. The cargo liners and oil tankers which are depicted at the adjoining quays were at Falmouth for repair and maintenance, not for the loading or discharge of cargo. The artist has depicted oil tankers belonging to British Petroleum on the left and cargo liners belonging to the Federal Steam Navigation Company in the centre and to The New Zealand Shipping Company, with the yellow funnel, on the right. As I say, on various childhood visits I made to Falmouth in the 1960s, numerous ships from the same three companies were to be seen. Now, looking more closely at the reproduction, I see, in the distance, that the Cutty Sark is being towed out of the estuary by a tug. Therefore, maybe the reason for some of the ships and small craft being ‘dressed overall’ with bunting was actually to mark the departure of the clipper from Falmouth to London?