Fishing Boats off the Coast of Cornwall, 1883, by Colin Hunter, ARA, 1841-1904. Oil on canvas. 56 x 101.5 cm. (22 x 40 in.). Leighton House Museum, Kensington. [painting in its frame] Photographs (by kind permission of the Museum) and text by Jacqueline Banerjee. Measurements found at artnet.
Closer view of the fishermen at the rocky shore.
Despite his popularity in his own lifetime, Hunter is not much known now: Clarkson Stanfield and James Clarke Hook get more attention as marine painters. The Newlyn School of painters associated with Cornwall later in the period also has a following. Yet this work, showing two Cornish fishermen at the end of a day's fishing, one heaving up the basket containing their catch, is very appealing. There is the merest tinge of sunset as the day closes in: all is still fresh and open.
Created 28 October 2022