About the painting

This painting by Charles Walter Simpson, depicts a herring gull on a cliff, with other gulls circling over the edge of the cliff. Below the dark cliff, is a vivid blue, swirling sea, and waves crash against the rocks.

The painting is not detailed, it cleverly captures a moment in time, with gulls in their natural environment. The simple brush strokes that mark the outlines of the birds have been quickly sketched, yet they accurately convey the shape and markings of the creatures - you can tell that they are herring gulls.

Feel the heat of a sunny day as the gulls go about their business, circling over the bright blue sea and sense the summer flowers dotted about in the slightly yellowing grass on a dry clifftop. It is bright and cheery, taking you to the seaside in Cornwall.

This painting is impressionist in style, painted quickly and outside ‘en plein air’ – the artist is sitting within the scene (right on the edge of a cliff!). You can sense the speed of the application of the brush strokes needed to portray this transitory moment.

The subject of this painting is typical for the artist who is particularly known for painting wild river and sea birds .

About the artist

Charles Walter Simpson was born in Camberley Surrey in 1885. His father, a Major General in the army, expected him to follow in his footsteps. However, at the age of fifteen Charles had a bad fall from a horse which affected his hearing and sight, so a military career was no longer a possibility.

From a young age he showed promise as an artist (a scrapbook of his sketches from ages 3 to 10 was carefully kept by an aunt). Favouring animals as subject matter of his art from childhood, he later decided to develop his creative skills by studying art at Bushey School of painting. He studied under Lucy Kemp-Welch, a renowned animal painter, especially of horses.

He also developed a strong friendship with the famous painter of horses, Alfred Munnings, a friendship perhaps strengthened through their shared interest in artistic subject matter.

In the very early 1900s, Simpson travelled to Cornwall to paint, and stayed in both Newlyn and Penzance. It was from Cornwall that he submitted his first painting for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, entitled, “Autumn Ploughing”. People at work by the sea and in the countryside, often painted ‘en plein air’, was popular subject matter of paintings by the Newlyn School, a community of artists hailing from many different places, drawn to Cornwall by the countryside, the coast and the special light from the sea there.

In 1913, Charles Simpson married Ruth Alison, an aspiring artist studying under Stanhope Forbes, one of the founding members of the Newlyn School of artists. She was principally a portrait painter. They stayed in St Ives throughout of the First World War; Charles not being eligible to enlist into the military on health grounds. Together she and Charles set up a painting school from their ‘Shore Studio’ in St Ives in 1916, soon expanding into the Piazza Studios St Ives, until 1924. During this period Charles Simpson painted many pictures of birds, including seagulls, and it seems likely that our painting Seagulls and Rocks probably dates from this time. (In 1922, he submitted a painting to the Royal Academy Summer exhibition entitled Black headed Gulls and in 1923, a painting entitled Seagulls nesting.).

In 1925 the Simpsons moved to London. Whilst living there, Charles visited a ‘rodeo’ which was held at Wembley Stadium, and sketched the scenes there. He went on to publish a book called El Rodeo, featuring the sketches he had made at the rodeo.

It seems that Charles and his wife Ruth were unable to stay away from Cornwall and by 1930 they returned there to live. Charles painted rural and coastal scenes, but is best known for his depictions of birds – ducks, seagulls, puffins and other seabirds. His artworks not only show his accomplishment as a painter but also his degree of observation of the fauna and flora he painted - exemplified by his depiction of colour, form, light and dark.

Acknowledgements

Charles Simpson Painter of Animals & Birds, Coastline and Moorland by John Branfield, published 2005 by Sansom & Company Ltd, in assocation with Penlee House Gallery, Penzance.

The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition archive.

Wikipedia