"Ringed by the flat horizon": Photographs of the coast, Brighton to Goring, and painted landscapes.
- Sim Elliott
- Nov 24, 2020
- 2 min read
These photos of the coast from Brighton to Goring were taken whilst cycling along the National Cycle Network Route 2 on Monday 23/11/20.
The paintings in this post can be found in these galleries (all the links are to the English versions of the websites):
When I look at the sea it often evokes memories of art that I have seen. In these times when gallery going is difficult, and at times impossible, I like to think about the many happy times that I have visited these museum.
Brighton, looking east, ca. 9.40
Mondriaan, Underpainting for land and see, 1907, Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Brighton, Palace Pier, ca. 9.50
Mondriaan, Pier and Ocean 4 (Scheveningen Pier), 1914, Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Hove, West Pier, ca. 10.05
Mondriaan, Composition 4, 1914m Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Looking toward Worthing and Shoreham from Hove, ca. 10.10
Kerrick, Seascape Before Sunset, Burnham, Norfolk, 1794, National Gallery, London
Shoreham and Brighton (looking back from Worthing), ca. 11.45
Van Gogh, Van Gogh, Fishing boat in the beach, Saintes Maries, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Worthing, ca. 12.45
Mondriaan, Red Cloud, 1907, Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Rampion Wind Farm from Worthing, ca. 12.55
Pollock, Summertime Number 9A, 1948, Tate Modern, London
Worthing, ca. 13.10
Mondriaan, Sea after sunset, 1909, Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Worthing, ca. 13.45
Scheveningen Beach, Panarama-Mesdag, Den Haag
Rampion Wind Farm from Worthing, ca. 14.05
Rothko, Seagram Murals, 1959, Tate Britain
Rampion Wind Farm from Goring, ca. 14.45
Mondriaan, Old Mill in evening, 1907, Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Sea at Goring Gap, ca. 14.50
Daubigny, Seascape, 1878, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Goring, ca. 15.00
Mondriaan, Painting 1, 1921, Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Goring Gap, ca. 15.05
Ruisdael, A Panoramic View of Amsterdam Looking toward the Ij, National Gallery, London
Goring Gap, ca. 15.10
Friedrich, Monks by the Sea, 1808, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Shoreham (return journey) ca. 16.20
Friedrich, Two Men By the Sea at Moonrise, 1817, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Newhaven to Eastbourne, from Shoreham (return journey) ca. 16.40
Rothko, Untitled, 1950, Tate Modern
Notes:
"Ringed by the flat horizon" is a quote from T. S. Eliot, The Wasteland, Part 5 ("What the Thunder Said"), 1922; it is also the name of a orchestral composition by George Benjamin (1990)
The ease with which images from the Kunstmuseum Den Haag pop into my head, and thus the privileging of early Mondriaan in this photo essay, is because I have visited that museum more than any other. I have been there many, many times! The Kunstmuseum Den Haag, called the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag until last year, contains the largest collection of Mondriaan in the world, and will be the first European museum I go back to - hopefully - when covid-19 is over!
When I was putting this post together I wondered if I frame photographs solely according to what appears to make the most interesting shot, or do I unconsciously frame the shot with reference to an individual painted landscape in my memory, or with reference to a landform schema (archetype) from art history, created by unconscious blending of many landscapes that I have seen. I don't know the answer.
Most of these photos were taken with my smartphone, an Honor 10 Lite (with a 13MP camera, f/1.8, with an integral 4x hybrid zoom lens)
Some of the long distance landscapes were taken with my Nikon COOLPIX P950 bridge camera (with an integral 83x optical zoom Lens - 24-2000mm).
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