Whitby in Wartime (1940)
Photo: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London      
© Crown copyright. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Presented by the War Artists Advisory Committee 1947 (CC BY-NC-ND)

Whitby in Wartime

1940

Oil on canvas
63.5 x 76 cm

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London


All Works in NEAC Exhibitions 1927 to 1992 All Works in Public Collections Commissioned Works Narrative Official War Artist Seascapes | Coastal Scenes Works | 1940 to 1949 Ships | Boats | Harbours | Ports Wartime Richard Eurich (1903-1992) Visionary Artist The Art of Richard Eurich Hidden Subjects

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Recto: Signed and dated lower left: R EURICH. 1940

Aka: Whitby in Wartime; Fishing Boats at Whitby Bay [IWM]; Fishing Mules, Whitby [RE diary]; Whitby [NEAC]; Fishing Boats at Whitby in War Time [book 'War Pictures by British Artists']

Verso: Signed and dated: R. Eurich 1940

England The North Whitby Yorkshire NMM National Maritime Museum WW2 WWII World War 2 World War II berthed bird breakers breakwater bucket choppy sea figures fish fisherman fishing boat gun harbour life buoy lighthouses masts men public collection rifle rope sea seagull war war artist wartime

This painting was RE's first wartime commission for the Admiralty, together with 'Robin Hood's Bay in Wartime'.

REP / PC

"At Whitby looking at fishing boat . . .  one stuck on mud and great effort to free her."

RE diary - 9 April 1940

"Started work on 1st painting for the Admiralty (25x30) Finished 13th May: “Fishing Mules, Whitby' "

Provenance

ACQUIRED | 1940

bought by the Ministry of Information for £35

EXHIBITED | December 1940

"British War Artists" - National Gallery, London

EXHIBITED | 24th Feb to 18th Mar 1945

"New English Art Club 96th Exhibition (Spring)" - Royal Academy Galleries, London

Cat 10; attribution to this exhibition is uncertain

GIFTED | c1947

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

by the War Artists' Advisory Committee; accession number BHC1573

EXHIBITED | 26th Sep 1991 to 12th Jan 1992

"Richard Eurich - From Dunkirk to D-Day" - Imperial War Museum, London, UK

Cat 4

EXHIBITED | 20th Mar to 29th May 2004

"Sea Change - Paintings by Richard Eurich in War and Peace" - St. Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lymington

EXHIBITED | 1st Mar to 30th Apr 2022

"Not Just Hockney: Past and Present [Digital exhibition]" - Bradford Big Screen, City Park, Bradford

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Provenance:

  • ACQUIRED - 1940 - bought by the Ministry of Information for £35
  • GIFTED - c1947 - National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
    by the War Artists' Advisory Committee; accession number BHC1573

Exhibitions:

  • December 1940 - "British War Artists", National Gallery, London
  • 24th Feb to 18th Mar 1945 - "New English Art Club 96th Exhibition (Spring)", Royal Academy Galleries, London
    Cat 10; attribution to this exhibition is uncertain
  • 26th Sep 1991 to 12th Jan 1992 - "Richard Eurich - From Dunkirk to D-Day", Imperial War Museum, London, UK
    Cat 4
  • 20th Mar to 29th May 2004 - "Sea Change - Paintings by Richard Eurich in War and Peace", St. Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lymington
  • 1st Mar to 30th Apr 2022 - "Not Just Hockney: Past and Present [Digital exhibition]", Bradford Big Screen, City Park, Bradford

Notes:

  • None recorded.

Related  

Robin Hood's Bay in Wartime (1940)

Image © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Presented by the War Artists Advisory Committee 1947 (CC BY-NC-ND)

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References:

  • The Art of Richard Eurich (Andrew Lambirth, pub. 2020: Lund Humphries, 170 colour illustrations, ISBN 9781848221727) [fig 35, pg 51]
  • Art UK [artuk.org]
  • Poet of the Beach (Peyton Skipwith, Country Life, 19 September 2020) [pg 144]
  • “Richard Eurich (1903-1992) Visionary Artist” (Edward Chaney and Christine Clearkin (contributions by James Hyman, David McCann and Peyton Skipwith), pub. 2003: Paul Holberton Publishing, ISBN 1903470110) [Figure 13 in catalogue, not exhibited]
  • National Maritime Museum [website] [Object Details]
  • War Pictures by British Artists - War at Sea (Sir Herbert Richmond [Introduction], pub. Oxford University Press, 1942) [Plate 34]
  • William Rothenstein & Richard Eurich - WAR ARTISTS [Fourth in a series in the Not Just Hockney series of books about past artists from the Bradford district.] (Colin Neville, Not Just Hockney, 2021) [pg 11]
  • Art UK Curations 3 [Themed groups of works selected from the Art UK online catalogue by art professionals and members of the public.] [The Great British Coastline Art Tour: Yorkshire | curated by David Saywell, Head of Digital Assets, Art UK]