This painting is by F.J Widgery (1861 –1942) and titled Coastal view (Mouth of the Yealm).

Frederick John Widgery was an English artist who painted landscapes and coastal scenery in Devon and Cornwall.

He originated from the West Country and was the younger son of William Widgery (1826-1893) who himself was a self-taught artist. Frederick was initially educated at Exeter Cathedral School and then at the Exeter School of Art followed by the South Kensington Museum School before travelling to Antwerp to study under Charles Verlat at the National Art School.

Widgery’s primary source of inspiration was Dartmoor but he also regularly visited the Exe estuary and Woodbury Common as well as other sections of the Devon and Cornwall coastline. He loved Exeter and Devon, and one of his Dartmoor paintings was chosen by the Great Western Railway for its “Glorious Devon” series of travel posters.

Widgery was a gifted painter of the landscape, moors, coast and sea and skilled at capturing the particular local light and weather. He predominantly worked outside, in the medium of watercolour. As such, his works show an intimate understanding of nature from moorland wildlife to the coves of Cornwall.

His commitment to Exeter was realised in 1903 when he became Mayor of Exeter and subsequently was made an Honorary Freeman of Exeter, and subsequently Alderman. Widgery's civic deeds complemented his work as an artist and the two combined as proof of the passion and commitment he felt towards Exeter and the surrounding West Country.