| Our English Coasts, 1852 ('Strayed Sheep') | |
|---|---|
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| Artist | William Holman Hunt |
| Year | 1852 (1852) |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 76 cm × 122 cm (30 in × 48 in) |
| Location | Tate Britain,London |
Our English Coasts, also known asStrayed Sheep, is an oil-on-canvas painting byWilliam Holman Hunt, completed in 1852.[1] It has been held by theTate Gallery since 1946, acquired throughThe Art Fund.
William Holman Hunt[2] was a British painter, who co-founded thePre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (1848), along withDante Gabriel Rossetti andJohn Everett Millais. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood advocated a return to spirituality and sincerity of the arts, despising academic painting, which they considered a mere repetition of clichés.[3][4] Despite these beliefs, the group created a number of works for institutes of higher learning in England. Under theVictorian era (1837–1901) the conservative academic aspect was represented by theRoyal Academy. Among the more radical options was the movementArts and Crafts, led byWilliam Morris. William Holman Hunt was somewhere in the middle. Although he studied at theRoyal Academy of Arts, he rejected the style imposed by its founderSir Joshua Reynolds.[5][6]
After Holman Hunt's paintingThe Hireling Shepherd was acquired byWilliam Broderip, this work was commissioned by Broderip's cousin, Charles Theobald Maud, as a reproduction of the sheep in the background. Maud was persuaded to accept a more adventurous composition. He workeden plein air at the location depicted between August and December 1852, despite cold and rainy weather. The painting combines features from different vantage points, with butterflies added in the studio modelled from life.[1]
The painting depicts a flock of sheep lining the picturesque coast of Sussex. The scenic location painted rests on the cliffs atFairlight Glen, beside Covehust Bay nearHastings, called theLovers' Seat.[7]
The painting is painted in many layers, with brilliant colours, as many of Hunt's paintings are painted.[8]
It was exhibited at theRoyal Academy summer exhibition in 1853 under the titleOur English Coasts, but the frame bore the inscription "The Lost Sheep", and it was renamedStrayed Sheep when it was exhibited at theExposition Universelle in Paris in 1855. It was acquired by theTate Gallery in 1946, throughThe Art Fund.
On 30 July 2019, after the British Prime Minister,Boris Johnson visited Wales, cartoonistSteve Bell parodied the painting inThe Guardian newspaper.[9]
