The West Wind, Lynmouth

Sir Edward John Poynter

1866 · Watercolor and gouache (bodycolor) · Drawings and Prints

Coastal cliffs in North Devon sweep away to the west, with sandbanks in the middle-distance marking the outflow of the river Lyn into the Bristol Channel. A green expanse above denotes Exmoor. The artist’s scraping creates lines of breaking surf, and the scale of the watery expanse is emphasized by a tiny steamboat threatened by curtains of rain. At the horizon, the sun breaks through clouds to cast pink reflections across the sea. Poynter, a leading academic painter known for realistic evocations of ancient Rome and biblical subjects, practiced watercolor mostly for his own pleasure. This work was bought by his brother-in-law, the politician Alfred Baldwin, who lent it to important exhibitions at Vienna (1873), the Grosvenor Gallery (1877), and the Fine Art Society (1903).

Artist

Sir Edward John Poynter

Date

1866

Medium

Watercolor and gouache (bodycolor)

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2015