Narrative
Narrative means telling a story. Many of Richard’s paintings do this. He produced a concentration of detailed pictures largely in the 50s and 60s often with different threads of story lines. But apart from these, there are many which pose questions about what exactly is happening!
Last Light (1983)
oil on board - 44h × 60w (cm)
Detail is only hinted at here. Richard expresses the obscurity partly by low light and partly by the way the paint is laid on in thick strokes. We may wonder what is going on with the group of figures on the pontoon. They are lit up by a photographer’s flash but not clearly enough to satisfy our curiosity.
The Messenger (1962)
oil on board - 94.5h × 125w (cm)
The painting is based on Kafka’s short story: The Great Wall of China. Instead of China we have the Yorkshire dry stone walls which are often piecemeal just as is the Wall in the story. The messenger can be seen running across a plank bridge hoping to deliver a message from the Emperor, but in this shimmering and dream-like immensity we know he has a hopeless task.
Queen of the Sea, 1911 (1954)
oil on canvas - 122h × 182.8w (cm)
There are plenty of stories here, and so many threads make it hard to fathom what the main subject actually is. In spite of all the activity, the calm sea and sky give the picture breadth and even a certain stillness.
Girl with Seaweed (1989)
oil on board - 45.7h × 60.9w (cm)
Pier Head (1982)
oil on board - 56.5h × 77.5w (cm)
The Sand Pit (1981)
oil on board - 41h × 61w (cm)
The Maze (1980)
oil on board - 56h × 59.5w (cm)
Break Through, Chesil Beach (1980)
oil on board - 51.2h × 86.2w (cm)
Breakthrough, Chesil Beach Portland (1979)
oil on board - 26.5h × 33w (cm)
Mischief Night (1975)
oil on canvas - 78.8h × 122w (cm)
Seashore at Lepe (1972)
oil on panel - 35.6h × 61w (cm)
Watchers on a Beach (1971)
oil on board - 76.2h × 101.6w (cm)
Botschaft (Valentine) (1970)
oil on board - 38h × 44.5w (cm)
Whitby, North Yorkshire, to Represent Sheffield on Holiday (1961)
oil on canvas - 304.8h × 426.7w (cm)
Chatsworth to Represent Sheffield at Play (1961)
oil on canvas - 304.8h × 426.7w (cm)
Cornwall (1958)
oil on board - 33h × 42w (cm)
The Guy (1958)
oil on canvas - 127h × 101.6w (cm)
Men of Straw (1957)
oil on panel - 50.8h × 101.6w (cm)
York Festival Triptych (1956)
oil on canvas - 130.8h × 196.2w (cm)
Coronation Procession - Admiralty Arch from Trafalgar Square (1953)
oil on canvas laid on board - 34.5h × 77w (cm)
The Mariner's Return (1953)
oil on canvas - 63.5h × 76w (cm)
The Pleasures of Travel, 1951 (1952)
oil on canvas - 50.8h × 63.5w (cm)
The Mummers (1952)
oil on board - 88h × 92w (cm)
The Return (c1952)
- 30.5h × 50.8w (cm)
A Judgement (1951)
oil on canvas - 102h × 78w (cm)
The Mummers (1951)
oil on board - 21h × 15.9w (cm)
The Ferryboat 'Charon' (1950)
oil on canvas - 74h × 98w (cm)
A Nativity (1949)
- 76.2h × 101.6w (cm)
Marine Harvest (1949)
oil on canvas - 55.9h × 60.9w (cm)
Strange Nativity (1948)
- 40.6h × 50.8w (cm)
La Fête des Saintes Maries de la Mer (1948)
oil on canvas - 63.5h × 101w (cm)
The Battle of the Boggarts (1948)
oil on canvas - 64h × 76w (cm)
Troops at Balliol, Second World War (1947)
oil on canvas - 89.8h × 165.1w (cm)
His Majesty King George VI conferring the Order of Knighthood upon Sir Henry Marten, Provost, on the steps of College Chapel (1946)
oil on canvas - 100.5h × 125.5w (cm)
The Dreamer (1946)
oil on panel - 21h × 27.5w (cm)
Catching the Pony (c1945)
oil on canvas board - 24.5h × 34.5w (cm)
Preparations for D-Day (1944)
oil on canvas - 76.2h × 127w (cm)
Mulberry - The Prefabricated Harbour Assembled, Selsey Bill (1944)
oil on canvas - 37.4h × 81.9w (cm)
Fortresses over Southampton Water (1944)
oil on canvas - 76.2h × 101.9w (cm)
D-Day, Reconstruction - Bombed Cathedral (1944)
oil on panel - 102h × 77w (cm)
Midget Submarine Attack on the 'Tirpitz', 22 September 1943 (1944)
oil on mahogany panel - 40.6h × 106.7w (cm)
Bombardment of the coast near Trapani (1943)
oil on canvas - 76.2h × 127w (cm)
The Great Convoy to North Africa (1943)
oil on panel - 36.8h × 127w (cm)
The Landing at Dieppe, 19th August 1942 (March 1942)
oil on panel - 121.9h × 175.3w (cm)
A Destroyer Rescuing Survivors (1942)
oil on canvas - 76.2h × 101.9w (cm)
Night Raid on Portsmouth Docks, 1941 (1942)
oil on canvas - 78.7h × 127w (cm)
HMS 'Revenge' Leaving Harbour (1942)
oil on canvas - 76.2h × 127w (cm)
The Raid on the Bruneval Radio Location Station, 27-28 February 1942 (1942)
oil on canvas - 76.2h × 101.9w (cm)
Naval Light Forces Going into Action (1942)
oil on canvas - 33h × 76w (cm)
A Ship's Boat at Sea (1941)
oil on canvas - 35.6h × 62.2w (cm)
Raid on Vaagso, Norway, 26 - 27 December 1941 (1941)
oil on canvas - 76.2h × 127w (cm)
Dunkirk Beaches, May 1940 (1941)
oil on canvas - 101.8h × 152.5w (cm)
Attack on a Convoy Seen from the Air (1941)
oil on canvas - 76h × 101.4w (cm)
The Boats Were Machine-Gunned (1941)
oil on canvas - 76.6h × 101.6w (cm)
The British Power Boat Company (1941)
oil on canvas - 76.2h × 127w (cm)
Robin Hood's Bay in Wartime (1940)
oil on canvas - 63.5h × 76.2w (cm)
The Frozen Tarn (1940)
oil on canvas (with scratching out) - 40.5h × 51w (cm)
Dunkirk Beaches (1940)
oil on cardboard - 22.8h × 45.7w (cm)
Whitby in Wartime (1940)
oil on canvas - 63.5h × 76w (cm)
Air Fight over Portland (1940)
oil on canvas - 76.2h × 101.9w (cm)
Thatching in Hampshire (c1939)
- 41h × 61w (cm)
At the Quay (1936)
oil on panel - 63.5h × 76.2w (cm)
The White Ship, Weymouth (1935)
oil on canvas - 87h × 131w (cm)
Choppy Weather on the Solent (1934)
oil on canvas - 50h × 61w (cm)
Winter Seascape (1933)
oil on canvas - 50.8h × 60.9w (cm)
The Unwilling Listener (1930)
oil on paper - 19h × 27.8w (cm)
A Fairy Tale (1929)
pencil on paper - 37h × 27w (cm)
Religious Scene (1925)
oil on canvas