Seascape from the 'birkdale'
a sketch of an empty horizon from the deck of the 'birkdale'. The artist has impressionistically suggested sky and sea with minimal brush strokes to achieve a dramatic effect. The sketch concentrates on the effects of the light from the sun, although the sun itself is not visible. The sea is flecked with a variety of colours and the artist has allowed the ground colour of the support to show through, particularly in the foreground. The sky is bathed in a lemon light and there is a horizontal band of colour on the horizon to represent a bank of cloud. Other clouds are implied by a line of thicker paint at the top and by blotches of dark purple and brown and carmine red in the sky. Everett joined the barque, 'birkdale', and sailed from bristol to sabine pass, texas, april to june 1920. It was his first journey after world war i. The 'birkdale' was due to take sulphur from texas to the cape, but when she arrived in texas the ship was re-chartered to australia and so everett reluctantly left her and came home by steamer. The 'birkdale', built in 1892, was the last barque to fly the red ensign and spent nearly all her working life in the chilean nitrate trade. For a short time after world war i she switched to taking sulphur from texas to the cape. The 'birkdale' went back to the nitrate trade and was wrecked on the chilean coast after catching fire in 1927. The painting is inscribed 'birk' verso. Seascape. Object Type: painting. Genre: marine art. Date: 1920. Dimensions: Painting: 255 x 356 mm. Medium: oil on paper. Collection: Royal Museums Greenwich. Seascape from the 'Birkdale' RMG BHC0097
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