Oil on canvas. In this view of the Polpeor Cove in Cornwall, with its jagged grey-brown rocks and turquoise blue water, painter John Brett has skilfully evoked the fresh, natural beauty of the Cornish coast.
During the 1870s Brett turned almost exclusively to marine subjects and owned a succession of sailing boats, from which some of his coastal scenes were painted. Brett spent many summers on the Cornish coast, where he painted numerous small paintings like this one, some of which were later used as the basis for larger works exhibited at the Royal Academy. In total, Brett is thought to have made over 200 studies of the coast of Cornwall. A visitor to the Royal Academy summer exhibition of 1881, viewing a Cornish landscape by Brett, was struck by the artist's obvious affection for the area: 'Those who in anyway equal Mr Brett in his love for the Cornish coast will find it hard to tear themselves away from this picture.'
