Art work by Richard Eurich D.Litt. RA OBE (1903-1992) Catalogue Raisonnée: https://richardeurich.co.uk/. Contact: Philippa Bambach 07890 390633 — © Royal Academy of Arts

Queen of the Sea, 1911

1954

oil on canvas

122h x 182.8w (cm)

Royal Academy of Arts

Narrative

Gatherings | Crowds | Festivities

Ships | Boats | Harbours | Ports

Towns | Town Life | Buildings

Birds Eye View

Bonfires | Flames | Smoke

Harlequins | Pierrots | Clowns

View through a Window or Door

RA Summer Exhibitions

The Art of Richard Eurich

Recto: signed and dated lower left: R. Eurich. 1954.

Alternatives:

The Queen of the Sea, 1911 [Bradford, and Southampton]

Whitby, Queen of the Sea, 1911 [?]

Tags:

All Works in Public Collections

Animals / Birds

Birds Eye View

Bonfires / Flames / Smoke

England

Gatherings / Festivities

Harlequins / Pierrots / Clowns

Motifs

Music / Theatre

Narrative

Sets

Ships / Boats / Harbours

Sunrises / Sunsets

The North

Themes

Towns / Town Life / Buildings

Umbrellas / Hats

View through a Window or Door

Whitby

Yorkshire

Subject

Academy

Baby

Figures

Flag

Flowers

Jack

Royal

Royal Academy of Arts

Sea

Union

Union Jack flag

Whitby

air

anchor

architecture

audience

aviary

balcony

balloon

band

base

bass drum

bathers

beached

beached boats

bedroom

birdcage

birds

black

boat

boathouse

boy

brass

brass band

brick

building

bus

candles

celebration

charabanc

children

choir

chorus

collection

columns

conductor

coronation

crowd

dancing

double

double bass

drum

dusk

electric

ensign

ethnic

evening

flagpole

flags

fountain

garden

harbour

harp

hat

hats

hill

horn

hot

hot air balloon

housing

jetty

ladder

lamp

lighthouses

maid

man in swimming trunks

masted

master

mayor

mayoress

men

musical instrument

orchestra

painting

pajamas

plaque

promenade

public

public collection

quayside

red

roses

rowing

rowing boat

ships

signal

singers

soloist

spectators

statue

steamship

summer

sunsets

swimmers

swimming

table

tea

topographical view

trumpet

two

two master

urban landscape

vehicles

walls

warehouse

water

white

women woman female

Medium

Oil

This extraordinarily rich picture is a composite memory of when Dad was 8 years old. He can be seen at one of the upstairs’ windows, a dark recessive figure amidst all the light and splendour. So many of his favourite themes are here! The whole scene is Whitby-esque with the harbour walls with their lighthouses and the steeply rising landscape. There are clowns, a walled garden complete with its own mysterious hidden atmosphere, a table laid for a meal and a celebratory brass band… not to mention the gorgeous ships all dressed for the occasion. The statue seems to be a sort of staid English version of Botticelli’s Venus perching on her shell. She is the Queen of the Sea and all these little figures are her subjects.

- PB

There is another one of Richard's hidden touches of humour in this painting. The plaque on the building on the right is inscribed "Richard Eurich stayed here, 1911".

- REP-PC

The two iconic lighthouses at Whitby's harbour entrance inspired other RE paintings. Scroll through the Related section below.

- REP / PC

Provenance & Events

ACQUIRED • 1954

Royal Academy of Arts

purchased from Richard Eurich by the RA under the terms of the Harrison Weir bequest for £600; accession number 03/1180

For £600

EXHIBITION • 1st May to 15th Aug 1954

"Summer Exhibition 1954"

Royal Academy of Arts

Cat 222

SOLO SHOW • 25th Nov 1979 to 20th Jan 1980

"Richard Eurich, RA - A Retrospective Exhibition"

Cartwright Hall Gallery, Bradford District Museums and Galleries

Cat 52, illustrated

SOLO SHOW • 28th Jan to 13th Mar 1994

"The Edge of all the Land: Richard Eurich 1903-1992"

Southampton City Art Gallery

Cat 53

EXHIBITION • 24th Mar to 10th Jun 2007

"Opulence and Anxiety: Landscape paintings from the Royal Academy of Arts"

Compton Verney

Cat 43; Toured to Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea (21 Jul 2007 – 23 Sep 2007)

EXHIBITION • Jun to August 2012

"Queen's Diamond Jubilee"

Royal Academy of Arts

References:

Books

"The Art of Richard Eurich"; Andrew Lambirth, pub. 2020: Lund Humphries, 170 colour illustrations, ISBN 9781848221727 [fig 5, pg 18]

Reviews

"Queen's Diamond Jubilee: Royal Academy Celebrates with Rare Exhibitions"; By Monami Thakur, pub. International Business Times
"In Focus: The Anglo-German pacifist-turned-war artist who famously chronicled Dunkirk — despite not being there"; Peyton Skipwith, Country Life - online
"Poet of the Beach"; Peyton Skipwith, Country Life, 19 September 2020 [pg 143]
"Magnetic pull of the Sea"; Davis, Frank, Country Life, 1 May 1980, Vol 167, No 4321 [p 1323]
"Royal Academy of Arts: Opulence and Anxiety, Landscape Paintings"; review in World Archaeology magazine, Issue 23, 6 May 2007

Catalogues

"RA Illustrated"; [1954]
"Edge of All the Land” Southampton (1994)"; Southampton City Art Gallery / Nicholas Usherwood. [Figure 53]
"Opulence & Anxiety: Landscape paintings from the RA catalogue"; by Tim Barringer, exhibition catalogue pub. by Compton Verney (1 May 2007), pp160, ISBN-10 : 0955271916, ISBN-13 : 978-0955271915
"RICHARD EURICH, RA - A Retrospective Exhibition"; by Caroline Krzesinska, pub. Bradford Art Galleries and Museums 1979 [p35]