Have you ever looked at a painting of the sea and the movement within the work was so expressive that you could taste the saltwater on your face, feel the breeze whipping through your hair and smell the ocean air? That is the impact I feel when looking at graphite sketches, pastel works and oil paintings by Joan Eardley. Just as Joan often painted right at the shore and sometimes in the water (see the photo above), I believe that is why her work is so powerful and transfers so much emotion. We get to be a part of that moment too.
“Joan Eardley was one of the most original and admired British artists of her generation.
A painter’s painter, who created a unique visual language which has been much emulated, Eardley’s raw, yet tender, depictions of children in 1950s Glasgow contrast vividly with her loose and expressive landscapes painted around Catterline in the north east of Scotland.
Eardley’s star burned brightly in the post-war years before she died at the age of 42 in 1963. Almost 60 years later, her work is being constantly re-evaluated and rediscovered by new generations of fans.” –Joan Eardley Foundation
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