Notes on an English Summer
02 Marine, 1985 Oil on board 5 x 23 ¾ in 13 x 60.5 cm
03 Windsurfer Evening, 1986 Oil on board 11 ¾ x 25 ½ in 30 x 65 cm
05 Passing Vessel, 1983 Oil on board 9 x 12 in 23 x 30.5 cm
07 The Tug, 1988 Oil on board 9 ½ x 14 in 24 x 35.5 cm
08 Distant Liner, 1991 Oil on board 10 ½ x 20 ¾ in 26.5 x 53 cm
Waterhouse & Dodd is proud to present the digital catalogue of our online exhibition ‘Richard Eurich – Notes on an English Summer’. Through a curated group of 25 paintings selected from the artist’s estate, we present an undeniably original recount of the rituals of the British summer by Richard Ernst Eurich OBE RA.
Eurich’s name first became widely recognised when his notable painting ‘Withdrawal from Dunkirk’ was exhibited at the National Gallery in 1940 and he duly became best known as a war painter. Subsequently, his large panoramic landscapes, many of which now reside in public collections, commanded attention through their immense size and wealth of unusual narrative details. There are a large number of Eurich’s works, however, that depict gentler scenes, represented using a limited palette intuitively laid upon the surface of a small piece of canvas or board. Such pieces make up the vast majority of Eurich’s oeuvre and have regularly been shown at Redfern Gallery, Arthur Tooth & Sons, The Fine Art Society and the Royal Academy and New English Art Club. Such works make up our current show.
Richard Eurich was an artist who liked to paint and painted what he liked. In 1929, following a show of his works at the Goupil Gallery, Eurich reflected that seascapes were distinctly out of fashion as a result of the cultural obsession with abstract art. Whilst aware of the shrinking desire and regard for ‘sea paintings’ at the time, this never prevented him from painting them. His drive to paint lacked the common vanity shared by many of the painters of his time, and instead was characterised by a continuous and almost automatic desire to create. As an artist, Eurich was a gentle, pensive and internalised character, a voyeur who obsessively painted the sea but never liked to swim in it. At times, he had 8 cats climbing around his studio as he quietly illustrated the faces and clouds which had passed him by earlier that day on Lepe Beach. To quote his daughter Caroline: “ My father was a quiet man – on the surface”.
Petronella Dodd
July 2024
July 2024
Richard Eurich at his home in Ilkley c. 1925
Few artists understood the English summer better than Richard Eurich: the ever-shifting weather; the mournful ennui enlivened by bouts of faintly ridiculous activity; the juxtaposition of sunbathers on sandy beaches with working ships and machinery; the potential for loneliness and isolation on a crowded beach. But always the weather. The writer Bill Bryson kept with him a small tattered clipping from the Western Daily Mail: “Outlook: Dry and warm, but cooler with some rain.” A typical British seaside weather forecast, and, as Bryson explains, the reason that Britons can talk endlessly about the weather: because it changes by the hour.
10 Lone Sailer, 1988 Oil on board 44.5 x 50 cm 17 ½ x 19 ½ in
11 The Three Master, 1984 Mixed media (oil & charcoal on board) 9 x 11 ¾ in 23 x 30 cm
13 Into the Wind, 1983 Oil on canvas 9 ¾ x 13 ¾ in 25 x 35 cm
14 Boy Watching Object;, 1987 Oil on board 18 x 24 in 45.5 x 61 cm
Most of the paintings in this exhibition come from the last two decades of Eurich’s life. In these the visionary nature of his earlier work was distilled into a quirky and slightly skewed view of the mundane, prosaic world around him. Often improbably elongated figures stand isolated gazing at the distant meeting point of land and water, in contemplation of the great unknown or perhaps just wondering what’s for tea.
19 Figures, Low Tide, 1989 Oil on board 4 x 12 in 10 x 30 cm
In his paintings of this period Eurich made a conscious effort to empty his paintings of content. As he himself described them: “Empty pictures, or as was said of Turner, “Pictures of nothing, and very like”.” But as the compositions become emptier so Eurich’s technique, his process, comes to the fore. His paintings are largely without under-drawing and objects are simply formed from layers of loose brushwork; a singular stroke of the brush can articulate a jacket caught by the wind. His figures are no longer so solid, and often have an ethereal and fugitive quality – literally so as it meant Eurich could shift them at will with the addition of a few more brushstrokes.
Waterhouse & Dodd introduces a short film made in collaboration with the Richard Eurich Estate following a conversation held by two
of his daughters as they discuss their father and his career as a painter. Special thanks to Philippa Bambach & Caroline Martin.
of his daughters as they discuss their father and his career as a painter. Special thanks to Philippa Bambach & Caroline Martin.
As Andrew Lambirth wrote “There is always more to Eurich’s work than at first meets the eye.” Eurich’s daughter, Philippa, recalled that there was a naivety at the heart of her father’s character, and this certainly contributes to his undoubted charm as an artist. Yet along with a finely honed technique there is a curious sophistication and subtlety that enables him to suggest at layers of meaning and atmosphere. As Jonathan Meades wrote “He is never quaint, never a little Englander” but more importantly “He was never literal.” He approaches his subjects cautiously and obliquely. His figures never show they are being observed, and often have their heads turned away, and indeed the working ships that pass silently by and the bits and pieces of light industry all have the sense of being overlooked, forgotten and hitherto un-regarded.
In 1984 Eurich wrote to his friend and fellow-artist Bernard Dunstan: “I myself am like a bear with a sore head if I am not painting”. That same year he received his OBE from Queen Elizabeth II, and she apparently enquired “Still painting, Mr Eurich?” to which he replied laughing “More than ever!”
Richard Eurich with his wife Mavis in his studio with 'Welsh Landscape' on the easel behind
ALL FEATURED WORKS:
ARTIST’S CV
Richard Eurich (1903-1992)
Richard Eurich was born in Bradford and studied at Bradford School of Art 1922-24, before going onto the Slade School of Art 1924-26. He was a talented draughtsman, winning the Slade’s Sketch Club prize every month for his entries during his last term. Eurich enjoyed a very successful run of exhibitions at the Redfern Gallery who sold Blue Barge (1934), to the Contemporary Art Society. This sale enabled him to marry Mavis Pope and build their home in Dibden Purlieu, Hampshire, where he spent the rest of his life. During the Second World War he applied to be an Official War Painter for the Admiralty. He became a Royal Academician in 1953 and later taught at Camberwell School of Art from 1949 to 1968.
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
1929 Richard Eurich, Goupil Gallery, London
1933 Paintings of Dorset Seaports by Richard Eurich, Redfern Gallery, London
1935 Richard Eurich, Redfern Gallery, London
1936 Recent Paintings by Richard Eurich, Redfern Gallery, London
1938 Recent Paintings by Richard Eurich, Redfern Gallery, London
1939 Richard Eurich, Redfern Gallery, London
1941 Richard Eurich, Redfern Gallery, London
1945 Paintings for Children by Richard Eurich, Redfern Gallery, London
1951 Richard Eurich A.R.A., Recent Paintings, Redfern Gallery, London
1956 Richard Eurich R.A., Twenty new paintings, Redfern Gallery, London
1968 Richard Eurich, Paintings, Arthur Tooth & Sons, London
1973 Richard Eurich, Recent Paintings, Arthur Tooth & Sons, London
1977 Richard Eurich RA, The Fine Art Society, London
1979 Richard Eurich, RA - A Retrospective Exhibition, Bradford City Art Gallery
The Fine Art Society, Glasgow; The Fine Art Society, London;
Southampton City Art Gallery
1980 Richard Eurich, R.A., Ash Barn Gallery
1982 Beaches, Breezes and Boats – an Exhibition of Paintings by Richard Eurich R.A.
Salisbury Divisional Library, Wiltshire
1983 Eurich at 80 - Richard Eurich, early drawings and recent paintings,
The Fine Art Society, London; Manor House Museum and Art Gallery, Ilkley
1984 Paintings by Richard Eurich, Ash Barn Gallery, Petersfield
1991 Richard Eurich - From Dunkirk to D-Day, Imperial War Museum, London
Richard Eurich: Paintings Since the War, The Fine Art Society, London
1994 The Edge of all the Land: Richard Eurich 1903-1992, Southampton City Art Gallery;
Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich
A Tribute to Richard Eurich Memorial Exhibition, The Fine Art Society, London
2003 Richard Eurich: Yorkshire Paintings, Wakefield Gallery, Yorkshire
RE-Discovered, A Centenary Celebration show of paintings and drawings by
Richard Eurich OBE RA (1903 - 1992), The First Gallery, Southampton
Richard Eurich (1903-92): A Centenary Celebration, Alresford Gallery, Hampshire
2003 Richard Eurich (1903-1992): Visionary Artist, Millais Gallery at Southampton Institute
(now Southampton Solent University); Russell Cotes Gallery Art Gallery and Museum,
Bournemouth; The Fine Art Society, London
2004 Sea Change - Paintings by Richard Eurich in War and Peace,
St. Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lymington
2008 The World of Richard Eurich O.B.E., R.A. 1903-1992: A Retrospective,
Fosse Gallery, Stow-on-the-Wold
2011 Land and Sea, The Hester Gallery, Leeds
2013 A Gathered Radiance, Late and Early Drawings and Paintings by Richard Eurich,
The First Gallery, Southampton
Selected Group Exhibitions:
1934 Prints by Sybil Andrews & Paintings by R. O. Dunlop, Basil Jonzen, Richard Eurich
Redfern Gallery, London
1936 International Exhibition of Paintings, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, USA
(Also exhibited in the 1937-39 & 1950 editions of the same show)
1940 British War Artists, National Gallery, London
(Also exhibited in the 1941-44 editions of the same show)
1941 Britain at War, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
1942 Artists aid Russia Exhibition, The Wallace Collection, London
1943 Richard Eurich, A.R.A., Wenceslaus Hollar, Durer & Rembrandt. French Paintings,
Redfern Gallery, London1945 War Artists’ Pictures, Glasgow
National War Pictures, Royal Academy of Arts, London1946 Group exhibition, Tate, London
UNESCO International Exhibition of Modern Art, Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris
1948 Pictures for schools: S.E.A Exhibition,Tate Gallery, London
1949 Richard Eurich, Walter Goetz, Frances Richards, Redfern Gallery, London
1950 Exhibition of Paintings, Bangor Arts Committee & Ulster Arts Club, Tonic Ci, Bangor
1951 Festival of Britain exhibition of works by Bradford Artists, 1851-1951,
City of Bradford Art Gallery, Cartwright Hall
1952 Osbert Lancaster, Richard Eurich, A.R.A., Alan Reynolds, Ethel Walker, D.B.E., A.R.A.,
Derwent Lees; Paintings on Small Panels, Redfern Gallery, London
1958 Richard Eurich, Derek Middleton, Maurice Utrillo, Redfern Gallery, London
1960 Northern Artists, City Art Gallery, Manchester
1962 Paintings and sculpture from the collection of Sir Michael Ernest Sadler,
Leeds City Art Gallery
1964 A Tribute to L S Lowry, Monks Hall Museum, Eccles
1964 Five R.A.'s: Charles Cundall, William Dring, R.O. Dunlop, Richard Eurich,
Lord Methuen, Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth
1965 British Artists of the Second World War,
Arts Council Gallery, Cambridge (and touring)
1982 Art and the Sea, Institute of Contemporary Art, London
Southampton Festival Exhibition of Marine Painting, Southampton City Art Gallery
1983 Landscape in Britain, 1850-1950, Hayward Gallery, London (and touring)
Exhibition of Paintings by 10 Royal Academicians, Fosse Gallery, Stow-on -the -Wold
1984 The hard-won image : traditional method and subject in recent British art,
Tate, London
1986 Hull Maritime Paintings from Ferens Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent
1989 Faces of Britain, British Council, London
Trick or Treat? Art Since the War, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
World War Two, Tate Liverpool
1992 Mavericks, Pallant House, Chichester
1994 The Glimpse of the Sea, The Bruton Gallery, Bath
1997 Under the influence: Paintings, drawings and prints, The London Institute Gallery
2000 Richard Eurich OBE RA, 1903-1992: William Brooker ARA 1918-1983,
The Alresford Gallery, Hampshire
2007 The New Forest: A Celebration in Art, St. Barbe Museum and Art Gallery,
Lymington, Hampshire
2010 Sea Pictures, The Lightbox, The Ingram Collection, Woking
2015 Shorelines, St. Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lymington
2017 Capture the Castle, Southampton City Art Gallery, Hampshire
2018 Southern Shores, Gosport Gallery, Hampshire
Richard Eurich was a regular contributor to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions and the annual exhibitions of the New English Art Club.
Works in Public Collections
Aberdeen Art Gallery
Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport
Balliol College, Oxford University
Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Birmingham Museums Trust
Bradford Grammer School
Brighton and Hove Museums and Art Galleries
Brockenhurst College
Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
Canadian War Museum, Ottawa
City of Westminster
Darlington Borough Art Collection
Eton College
Ferens Art Gallery
Gallery Oldham
Government Art Collection
Gracefield Arts Centre
Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool
Hampshire Cultural Trust
Harris Museum & Art Gallery
Hepworth, Wakefield
Imperial War Museum
Ingram Collection
King's College, Cambridge
Kirklees Museums and Galleries
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
Leeds Art Gallery
Leicestershire CC
Lyme Regis Museum
Manchester Art Gallery
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
Ministry of Defence Art Collection
MoMA, New York, USA
National Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
National Maritime Museum
National Museum of Wales
National Museums Northern Ireland, Ulster Museum, Belfast
Nottingham City Museums & Galleries
Otter Gallery
Pallant House, Chichester
Portsmouth Museums
Rochdale Arts & Heritage Service, Touchstones Rochdale Royal Academy
Royal Air Force Museum
Royal Hallamshire Hospital
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum
Salford Museum
Sheffield Museums
Southampton City Art Gallery
Southampton Solent University
Southwark Art Collection
Tate Britain
The Cooper Gallery, Barnsley
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
UCL Art Museum, London
University of Southampton
Usher Gallery, Lincoln
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
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