Julius Olsson
Stormy Evening on the Cornish Coast, 1912
Oil on canvas
139 cm x 183 cm (54.7 x 72 ins.)
Framed: 161 cm x 204 cm (63.4 x 80.3 ins.)
Framed: 161 cm x 204 cm (63.4 x 80.3 ins.)
Julius Olsson 1864-1942
Moonlit Fleet in St Ives Bay, c. 1911
Oil on canvas
45.7 x 61 cm (18 x 24 ins).
Framed: 59.7 x 74.9 cm (23 1/2 x 29 1/2 ")
Framed: 59.7 x 74.9 cm (23 1/2 x 29 1/2 ")
Sold
A lovely example of Olsson's moonlit seascapes, very similar in composition and perspective to Moonlit Shore in the Tate collection, but with the rare added social history interest of the St Ives fishing fleet.
Provenance
Gift from J. Olsson to H. Dean, August 1940.
With Louise Whitford Ltd., London SW1.
Private UK collection
The view in Moonlit Fleet in St Ives Bay across the bay towards Godrevy Lighthouse is almost identical to that seen in Moonlit Shore, probably Olsson's most famous work, acquired by the Chantry Bequest for the new Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain) in 1912. But in our painting, and unusualy for the artist, we also have an historic record of the St Ives fleet of Seine fishing boats.
Seine fishing in St Ives was on an industrial scale in the 19th century with more pilchards caught by the St Ives fleet than the rest of Cornwall's fishing boats put together. Across the 19th century billions of pilchards were caught, salted in barrels and shipped to markets in Italy, Spain and as far afield as New York.
It's relatively rare for the late C19th - early C20th artists that coalesced around Julius Olsson to record the presense of the St Ives fishing fleet; more commonly Olsson would paint a distant tall ship on the horizon.
