Figures on a Beach

This is one of Richard’s “strange” paintings. It has the unusual juxtapositions common in a number of his later pictures. It asks so many questions, throwing them out for us to answer if we care to. Or is it like some poems, so full of mystery that we just accept it, and enjoy it? The paint is very ”high key” and thin. There’s no sign of overworking as though he was guided to do it just as it is. The girl on the left is warmly dressed, whereas the bather is naked. There’s the man leaning down with the weight …

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This is one of Richard’s “strange” paintings. It has the unusual juxtapositions common in a number of his later pictures. It asks so many questions, throwing them out for us to answer if we care to. Or is it like some poems, so full of mystery that we just accept it, and enjoy it? The paint is very ”high key” and thin. There’s no sign of overworking as though he was guided to do it just as it is. The girl on the left is warmly dressed, whereas the bather is naked. There’s the man leaning down with the weight of his earthenware jar, and the bait digger, half clothed, pausing, so it seems. There’s a beached yacht, and in the background, adding to the contrasts, dark industrial ships and polluted air beyond. It is like an odd dream, where familiar places are drawn into an unfamiliar drama. There is an ebb and flow of tones, some bits almost melting into their surroundings, but the image solidified by the upright figure on the left, and the central figure of the bait digger. I live with this painting, but it yields no answers, like a story with no ending, but that’s ok.  

Richard included bait diggers as a main subject or tiny in the foreground or background in dozens of works.