1934
Oil on canvas
87 x 131 cm
Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester
Works | 1930 to 1939 Towns | Town Life | Buildings Ships | Boats | Harbours | Ports All Works in Public Collections Prizes and Awards The Art of Richard Eurich
Recto: Signed and dated lower right: R. EURICH. 1934.
Aka: Blue Barge, Weymouth [Redfern (1934); The Blue Barge, Weymouth [Redfern (1935), and Bradford]; The Blue Barge [MAG and Art UK]
Other measurements: 86.5 x 131.2 cm
Dorset England The South West Weymouth Manchester Art Gallery Red Triangle Cement berthed boat boats ships brown sail buildings calm deserted dinghy dock figures harbour hats long boat masts men moored public collection quay reflection river bank sailing barge seafront streets town town clock walking warehouseAfter the success of the Dorset Sea Ports show at the Redfern in 1933, Richard seems to have concentrated on making new work in 1934.
In a 1934 entry in his sales diary, Richard wrote:
'Blue Barge, Weymouth' - oil - 51x34 - from Redfern to Contemporary Art Society and presented to Tate Gallery. £100.
[Then in different ink] Later presented to Manchester, but there seems to be some doubt over the presentation as it was definitely bought for the Tate.
We have no other information about this mix up, but there is a story in the Eurich …
After the success of the Dorset Sea Ports show at the Redfern in 1933, Richard seems to have concentrated on making new work in 1934.
In a 1934 entry in his sales diary, Richard wrote:
'Blue Barge, Weymouth' - oil - 51x34 - from Redfern to Contemporary Art Society and presented to Tate Gallery. £100.
[Then in different ink] Later presented to Manchester, but there seems to be some doubt over the presentation as it was definitely bought for the Tate.
We have no other information about this mix up, but there is a story in the Eurich family that says that the only reason Richard and Mavis could afford to get married in the September after the exhibition, was because of the sale of 'The Blue Barge' for 100 guineas to the Contemporary Art Society.
Reading the annual report of the Contemporary Art Society for 1934-35 we see that the man who had been supporting Richard in various ways since 1928, Edward Marsh, was on the Society's committee at that time.
'The Blue Barge, Weymouth" (1934) and 'The Ship, Inn' (1935) - aka 'The Ship Inn, Weymouth" - are sometimes confused with each other.
1959: "Repaired gaping cracks in sky for Manchester City Art Gallery."
From an interview done for the Imperial War Museum in 1978:
"I did a painting from a barge at Weymouth in the harbour there which was the first large painting I did. When I say large, it was just over four feet by just over three feet. And they came along to see that and they said ‘Oh good heavens we must have that on view and get the Contemporary Art Society interested.’ And they bought it for a hundred pounds which was the first picture I had ever sold for a hundred pounds."
This artist's "Blue Barge" was voted the most popular of all the modern pictures exhibited by the British Institute of Adult Education in their experimental exhibitions in industrial areas.
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