The White Ship, Weymouth

This large work is undated, causing some debate about when it could have been painted. It was exhibited in The RA Summer Show of 1953. Richard usually entered works which had only recently been completed so we decided that it must be early 50s.  The use of paint to create a work of utter stillness pointed to the early fifties too, quite different from the vibrating style of paint he used in some of the ships-in-harbour scenes from the 30s. The signature is in the post war cursive style rather than the pre-war all caps style.There was no mention of …

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This large work is undated, causing some debate about when it could have been painted. It was exhibited in The RA Summer Show of 1953. Richard usually entered works which had only recently been completed so we decided that it must be early 50s.  The use of paint to create a work of utter stillness pointed to the early fifties too, quite different from the vibrating style of paint he used in some of the ships-in-harbour scenes from the 30s. The signature is in the post war cursive style rather than the pre-war all caps style.There was no mention of the painting in any of the diaries.

We did wonder if it was the same work recorded as "Ships in Harbour" (c1935) at the Redfern Gallery, but it felt like a more mature work. However, we revisited that possibility recently when it was brought to our attention that there was a label on the back placing it in the autumn exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool in 1935.  That confirms for us that Ships in Harbour is most likely the early title for what is now known as The White Ship.

It has been suggested to us that Richard may have reworked the painting to prepare it for showing in the RA. That 1953 show was his debut as a full Academician of the Royal Academy, so perhaps he wanted to "exhibit a large painting to reflect this honour".

What we still do not understand is why such a fine painting took so long to find a home. It is as good as a dozen other works of similar age and size, nearly all of which were quickly brought into publiic collections.

 

Not to be confused with the White Ship, Lyme (c1932), 61 x 76.2 cm that was shown in the 1933 Paintings of Dorset Seaports exhibition at the Redfern.

There seems to be a couple of narratives being acted out in the distance. The celebratory pennants caught my eye to begin with and took me on to the great crowd of people beyond. Are the two connected? And why is there a smoky bonfire burning up on the hill?