Sunset Study

This painting is an early example of Richard’s exploration of what for him was a different range of colours. The birch trees, painted with thin scrubbed and blotched paint are almost naturalistic, but what lies beyond represents him venturing into new realms. He said in a letter to me a few years later that he used not to think much of Monet’s late paintings of the lily ponds but he now understood what remarkable and wonderful work it was. This picture is painted on canvas at a period when most of Richard’s paintings were oil on board. I get the feeling that he was enjoying the springiness of the canvas ground and its flexibility of touch for this undoubtedly experimental work.