Pegwell Bay, Kent – a Recollection of October 5th 1858
Pegwell Bay, Kent – a Recollection of October 5th 1858 is an
Background
Dyce was born in
Painting
The painting was inspired by a visit by the Dyce family to Pegwell Bay in August 1857. Pegwell Bay is a shallow inlet on the coast of Kent between
In the painting, the tide has gone out, revealing a flat expanse of sand, pools of water, rocks, and algae. Standing separately the foreground are Dyce's son with a spade looking out to sea, his wife, and her two sisters, collecting shells and
Dyce made initial studies on the beach, en plein air. A small watercolour study made in 1857 was acquired by Aberdeen Art Gallery in 1991, funded in part by the Art Fund. The completed oil painting depicts a later time in the evening than the study; Dyce also adds his family in the foreground of the final painting, and moves the date one year to include the comet. The beach was frequented by Charles Darwin and his family, and On the Origin of Species was published in 1859, while Dyce was working on the painting.
The painting can be seen as an allegory of time and space, geology and astronomy, family and history, with science meeting Christianity on the beach: Pegwell Bay was reputedly the place where St Augustine landed in 597, on his mission to bring Christianity to the British Isles (and also where Hengist and Horsa arrived in the 5th century). The comet may be an echo of the Star of Bethlehem from the biblical nativity story, but could also be a reference to the science of astronomy and the place of humans in the universe.
The finished painting measures 63.5 centimetres (25.0 in) by 89 centimetres (35 in). It was exhibited at the
See also
- William Powell Frith's 1854 seaside painting, Ramsgate Sands
External links
- "Dyce's Pegwell Bay, Kent – a Recollection of October 5th 1858". Smarthistory at Khan Academy. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
References
- William Dyce, Pegwell Bay, Kent – a Recollection of October 5th 1858, Tate Gallery
- Work of the Week: Pegwell Bay, Kent – a Recollection of October 5th 1858, by William Dyce, Tate Gallery
- Pegwell Bay by William Dyce, 1857, Art Fund
- Geology in the Pre-Raphaelite landscape: William Dyce’s Pegwell Bay, Alexis Drahos and Christine Thompson
- googleartproject.com
- Victorian Landscape Watercolors, Scott Wilcox, Christopher Newall, Yale Center for British Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, p. 97
- Literature And Science: Social Impact And Interaction, John H. Cartwright, Brian Baker, p. 175-6
- Water, Leisure and Culture: European Historical Perspectives, edited by Susan C. Anderson, Bruce Tabb, p. 99–100
- "Fire in the Sky: Comets and Meteors, the Decisive Centuries", in British Art and Science, Roberta J. M. Olson, Jay M. Pasachoff p. 237–244
- Reading the Pre-Raphaelites, T. J. Barringer, p. 79–82
- A Popular Handbook to the Tate Gallery, 'National Gallery of British Art', Edward Tyas Cook, p. 103-4
- Charles Darwin And Victorian Visual Culture, Jonathan Smith, p. 75-7