Beside the Seaside: the British Impressionists

14 May - 4 September 2005

Lady Lever Art Gallery

Escape to the seaside this summer with a visit to Lady Lever Art Gallery’s refreshing exhibition, ‘Beside the Seaside: the British Impressionists’. This sunny collection of paintings will trigger precious memories of childhood holidays, as well as giving a taste of the traditional Victorian and Edwardian seaside.

Sixteen paintings are on loan from Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery and from other leading UK galleries including Tate Britain. They cover themes such as: Bathing and Paddling, The Beach, Nature and The View. Pictures by some of the most prominent figures in British Impressionism are on show, including Charles Conder, Elizabeth Forbes, Edward Atkinson Hornel, Walter Richard Sickert, Philip Wilson Steer, Henry Scott Tuke, Laura Knight and Stanhope Alexander Forbes.

Impressionism

Impressionism developed in France and was based on the practice of painting outdoors. Artists used rapid, broken brush strokes to evoke a strong sense of changing natural light and capture a fleeting moment. This exhibition brings together some of the most beautiful and memorable seascapes of the era.

Families may well recognise favourite destinations such as ‘Newquay’ by Charles Conder, and ‘Beach Scene, St Ives’ by Stanhope Alexander Forbes. Children will also love the fun beach-themed activities running alongside the paintings, such as dressing-up in bathing costumes, the Punch and Judy show, ‘Wish You Were Here’ postcard, and the gallery trail.

This is a unique chance to see several works by Birkenhead-born artist Philip Wilson Steer (1860-1942) who produced some of the best-known beach images of his era. Steer studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Here he had the chance to see some of the more avant-guard art works of the time. He later became a founder member of the New English Art Club which championed new and contemporary painting methods such as Impressionism and resisted the conservatism of the Royal Academy. Steer’s featured paintings demonstrate people enjoying the beaches of Britain and France, such as ‘Knucklebones, Walberswick’.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is Walter Sickert’s (1860-1942) ‘Bathers, Dieppe’, on loan from the Walker Art Gallery’s extensive collections. The painting is a fine example of the striking and evocative nature of Impressionist paintings. The warm, vivid colours of the sea and the contrasting colours of the bathers’ costumes combine to make a truly inviting and instantaneous ‘snapshot’ of beach-life.

Gallery Highlights

Click on the thumbnails below for more information about an image. These images are available to send as epostcards.

This charming exhibition at the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, is an original way to celebrate Year of the Sea - guaranteed to ‘warm the cockles of your heart’. If your appetite for the seaside has been revitalised then why not combine your trip to the Wirral with a nostalgic visit to former seaside resort New Brighton?

Alternatively, if you’d like to find out more about the Impressionists, then visit the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum in Birkenhead or the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool where you will find works by Monet, Degas and others.

A free guide, fully illustrated in colour, accompanies the exhibition, supported by Rathbones - [open new window].

For children there is a fun and colourful trail. Free talks and events run throughout the exhibition. Visit the what’s on pages for more information.

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