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Swanage

Maker

(artist)
1860-1942

Title

Swanage

Date of Production

1890

Medium

graphite and watercolour on wove paper

Dimensions

Height: 26 cm
Width: 36 cm

Accession Number

D.1962.XX.3

Mode of Acquisition

Dorothea Hamilton, gift, December 1962

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords







Label Text

Steer was one of the leading exponents of Impressionism in England and as a member of the New English Art Club sought to break away from the conventions associated with the Royal Academy. This is his earliest known watercolour and may have been made as an experiment alongside his artist travelling companion J.L. Henry. Steer achieved little commercial success at this time. His loose handling antagonised a late Victorian public that still preferred careful finish to Impressionist renderings.

Provenance

the artist's niece, Dorothea Hamilton; Hamilton Gift via Bruce Laughton, Esq., December 1962

Exhibition History

Artists in Purbeck:Spirit of Place, Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth, 12/10/2024-16/03/2025

Life, Legend, Landscape - Victorian Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 17/02/2011-15/05/2011

Philip Wilson Steer 1860-1942 - Paintings and Watercolours, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1986 ...More

Turner, Prout, Steer - Three Bequests to the Courtauld Institute
Galleries
, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1980

English Landscape Drawings [catalogue not found], Rye Art Gallery, England, 1971 ...Less

Literature

MacColl, D.S., Life, work and setting of Philip Wilson Steer, London, 1945
p. 113

Life, Legend, Landscape - Victorian Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, 2011
cat. no. 25
ill. on p. 105

Laughton, Bruce, Philip Wilson Steer 1860-1942, Oxford, 1971
p. 24 and p. 25 n. 24 ...More

Turner Prout Steer Three Bequests to the Courtauld Institute of Art, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1980
no. 1 (Steer)

Philip Wilson Steer 1860-1942: Paintings and Watercolours, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and throughout Great Britain, 1986, Arts Council of Great Britain
no. 12 and on p. 24
ill. on p. 36

Philip Wilson Steer 1860-1942 - Paintings and Watercolours, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1986
cat. no. 12
pp. 35-36

Life, Legend, Landscape: Victorian Drawings & Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, 2011
no. 25
ill. on p. 105 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Verso: upper right of centre, graphite, circled: “715”; upper centre, graphite, artist's hand: “Swanage 1890”; lower right corner, graphite, circled: “2”.

Collector's mark: none.

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