Where the land meets the sea

From Barbara Hepworth’s St Ives to Monet’s Italian obsession, Elizabeth Oliver selects five seascapes with stories behind them.

View of the Harbour of Huaheine
John Webber, 1777

Captain James Cook’s three voyages, from 1768 to 1780, opened up the landscapes
and cultures of the Pacific to a global audience. In this watercolour from the third expedition, artist John Webber depicts the Tahitian harbour of Huahine: gradations of green extend across the mountains, and palm trees cluster by the shore.

This painting held great significance for the British public. During Cook’s second voyage, he met a Polynesian man called Mai at Huahine. Cook took Mai to London, where the Polynesian achieved celebrity status. When Cook ventured on his final voyage, Mai accompanied him home and was settled in the harbour of Huahine – as seen here.

James Cook: The Voyages, until 28 August at the British Library, bl.uk. Read our review of the exhibition catalogue here.

Image © The British Library board

Trial Print from English as she is spoke
Edward Bawden

In 1960, the artist Edward Bawden was commissioned to illustrate a Portuguese-English phrase book, called English as She is Spoke. It included this seascape, which is thought to be the resort town of Cascais. This is a preparatory version of the final work and is on display at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. James Russell, the exhibition’s curator (and Arts Society Lecturer), explains that the work gives an insight into Bawden’s creative process: ‘He has roughly applied coloured ink, perhaps with a roller, to add drama to the image.’

Edward Bawden, until 9 September at Dulwich Picture Gallery, dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

Image © Estate of Edward Bawden

View of Bordighera
Claude Monet

In 1884, Claude Monet visited the village of Bordighera, located on the Italian Riviera. Struck by the area’s scenery, he stayed here for nearly three months, creating many works of the landscape. In this oil painting, Monet explores the vibrancy of the natural world, from the azure sea to the overgrown foliage. His brushstrokes animate the landscape: short, smooth movements capture the rippling sea, while rapid, textured strokes convey the windswept vegetation.

View of Bordighera is in the National Gallery’s exhibition Monet & Architecture until
29 July; nationalgallery.org.uk

Image © Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA

The Dawn Pearl in port Seton Harbour
John Bellany

Brought up in Port Seton, Scotland, artist John Bellany (1942–2013) was fascinated by the power of the sea. Born into a family of fishermen and boatbuilders, Bellany was aware of the sea’s influence: it sustained coastal livelihoods, but could also work destruction. In this oil painting, Bellany’s foregrounding of the boat, and his use of short, impressionistic strokes, emphasise that this is a working landscape.

The Dawn Pearl in Port Seton Harbour is on display in the Scottish Maritime Museum’s Maritime Perspectives: Collecting Art of a Seafaring Nation until 21 October. scottishmaritimemuseum.org

Image © Scottish Maritime Museum

Wave
Dame Barbara Hepworth

Juxtaposing rigidity and fluidity, interior and exterior, Barbara Hepworth’s Wave is an influential work of abstract art. In 1939, Hepworth moved from London to St Ives, which had a profound effect on Hepworth’s work.

During the 1940s and 60s, St Ives was an epicentre for modern and abstract artists. Created between 1943-44, Wave is thought to be modelled on the sweep of St Ives Bay, and captures the relationship between the sea and the landscape – a hallmark of Hepworth’s style.

Her combination of string and what is believed to be plane wood, creates a synergy of momentum and stasis. The curvature of the wood evokes a swelling wave, while the fixed strings convey a rootedness to the landscape. Hepworth revealed that the strings represent: ‘the tension between myself and the sea, the wind or the hills.’

Wave is on display at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art; nationalgalleries.org

Image: Dame Barbara Hepworth, Wave, 1943 - 1944.Wood, paint, string, 30.50 x 44.50 x 21.00 cm © BOWNESS. Photography: Antonia Reeve. Collection: National Galleries of Scotland. Purchased with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Art Fund and the Henry Moore Foundation, 1999.