Welsh Estuary Foreshore
About this artwork
Accompanied by the artist Graham Sutherland, John Craxton visited Pembrokeshire in 1943. On his return, he painted this picture on a sheet of burlap that a friend had wrapped around some books. Craxton said, "I pinned it to a wall and worked on it and it became a synthesis of ideas, objects and forms gathered during my visits to Pembrokeshire". The shape of the shoreline can be seen in the picture, while the eye-like form on the shore is a kind of cuttlefish, partly inspired by a painting of a weeping woman by Picasso.
Updated before 2020
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artist:John Craxton (1922 - 2009) English
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title:Welsh Estuary Foreshore
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date created:1943
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materials:Oil on burlap
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measurements:112.30 x 180.30 cm; Framed: 131.00 x 199.00 x 6.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1972
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accession number:GMA 1257
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gallery:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
John Craxton
John Craxton
John Craxton was born in London. He studied in Paris in 1939 and then in London until 1942. A friend of Graham Sutherland, Craxton also shared a studio with Lucian Freud from 1942 to 1944. Craxton's early work consisted of neo-romantic landscapes, but after travelling in Europe from 1946 to 1947,...