"Sussex Coast" (1854) | William Shayer, Sr.

WILLIAM SHAYER, SR.
British, 1788-1879

"Sussex Coast" (1854)

Oil on canvas | signed lower left "William Shayer '54" | titled in graphite on stretcher bars verso

Item # 404REX19W  The very fine landscape is a scene familiar within Shayer's oeuvre and captures "Sussex Coast", a title noted in graphite on the reverse along the upper stretcher bar. The focus is on the woman and her daughter chatting with a local fisherman cleaning up after his day's catch. The scene is busy, as the sails of fishing vessels pulled upon the shore are visible immediately behind the group while figures mill about wrapping up the morning's activities. The tide has pulled out and the beach is visible far into the distance beneath an atmospheric expansive sky with the soft pinks and purples of the dawning day cast across the clouds.

Note the extraordinary attention to detail in the fish, the dog, the full expressions of the figures - Shayer was meticulous and obsessive in his detailing of the coastal communities and his work provides a great deal of insight into the workings of the local fishing population during the mid-19th century. His ability to work with light and manipulate shadows to create drama and emphasize his subjects is uncanny.

The reverse retains several old labels, including one unknown exhibition label, a collector's label and a gallery stamp "H.Y." with numbering.

The present work is housed in an early giltwood composition frame and is signed in the lower left corner in tidy script "William Shayer '54". The frame is period correct for the painting but is unlikely to be the first frame to hold the painting.

Born in Southampton, William Shayer Sr. started out painting rush-bottom chairs before leaving for Guildford where he set himself up as a coach-painter. His work was well-regarded and word soon spread regarding the quality of his coats of arms, leading to his commission to paint the funeral escutcheon of the 4th Earl of Richmond. Shayer continued to paint coats of arms and heraldic devices but in his free time he turned his attention to landscape paintings.

On a visit to Southampton to spend time with his family, Shayer received instruction from the seascape painter Jock Wilson (whom Shayer would soon surpass in terms of their respective ability to paint coastal and sea views). Shayer moved to Bladon Lodge in Shirley, near Southampton, an area renowned for its beautiful skies and rejected all overtures by his peers to return to London.

The self-taught artist would become beloved for the great breadth of his genre compositions. While the sea and the coast were always close to his heart, he painted all aspects of British life: gameskeepers, gypsies, shepherds, hawkers, townsfolk selling at markets or resting at country inns and farmers doing chores.

Shayer married Sarah Lewis Earle in 1810 and fathered William Shayer the Younger, Charles Waller Shayer and Henry Thring Shayer. He was admitted membership to the Society of British Artists in 1862 and showed 338 paintings at the Society exhibitions from 1825 to 1870. He also exhibited 6 works at London's Royal Academy and 82 paintings at the British Institution. Artist Listings & Bibliography: E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. XII, Gründ, 2006, p. 1095-1097
Measurements: 33 3/8" H x 45 1/8" W x 3 3/8" D [frame]; 24 1/4" H x 36 1/8" W [canvas] Condition Report: Painting expertly conserved. The stretchers are original and in excellent condition. The linen is in excellent condition and remains unlined. Under UV: minor inpainting and touch ups around the extreme edges of the painting, a few pinprick touchups in the sky, Very light craquelure throughout the surface. Frame is period correct with relatively close match-up in oxidization verso with the stretchers, but is probably not the first frame to have held the canvas. Rubbing wear to the gilding throughout along with oxidization and darkening to the recesses. Minor chipping, cracking and losses throughout the frame. Ready to place.