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Exploring the Collections: Water

A ship with an orange sail heading towards a distant island. The ocean is choppy and the ship is tilting slightly to the right.
Making for Dover, Edwin Hayes (1819–1904), Oil on canvas. Available to view in our Victorian Gallery.

Throughout history artists have flocked to the sea for inspiration. The beauties and dangers of life near the water have been well documented by painters and poets. But what is it about water that captures our interest so consistently? Explore this exhibition to find out more about humanity’s complicated relationship with water, as a provider or playmate, muse or murderer.

All the artwork in this exhibition is from Salford Museum and Art Gallery’s collections, and can be viewed on ArtUk.

Work

All living things need water to survive. Like animals gathering around a watering hole in a nature documentary, early civilizations would have been built near water, allowing them to drink easily. Quickly hunters learned to fish, getting food as well as drink from the water. Cave paintings show that fishing was common as early as 40,000 years ago!

The water provides work for millions of people every year, catching fish or transporting cargo. Before the invention of trains or planes, boats were the fastest method of transportation, and the invention of steam engines during the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840) allowed boats to travel further and faster than ever before.

 

An oil painting of cranes loading crates onto a large white boat. Smaller boats float in the water beside it.

Loading Aeroplane Parts for Overseas

Bernard Hailstone (1910-1987)

Oil on canvas

Bernard Hailstone was a British artist who became an Official War Artist in 1941. He worked as part of the Ministry of Transport during World War 2. During the war, bad weather conditions over the Atlantic sea made it too dangerous for aircrafts to be flown between North America and Britain, so planes would be taken apart and shipped across the sea in crates.

A painting of a pier with boxes piled up and people walking around, looking out to sea. There is a small tower with a weather vale on top.
Harbour, Seahouses (recto), Argent Brierley (1893–1960), Oil on canvas, The lighthouse helping fishing ships navigate the rocky waters.
An oil painting of a boat unloading crates onto a truck at a wooden dock.
Unloading Cement, Lyme, Richard Ernst Eurich, 1932, Oil on canvas.
A stylised painting of a canal with a brick bridge going over it.
Canal Scene, Edward William Finley (1907–1979), Oil on canvas.
A painting of a man guiding two horses as they pull a cart of sand up a hill near the sea.
Carting Sand, James William Booth (1867-1953), Oil on canvas.
A crowd of people standing on a dock, watching a boat mooring. There are fish lying on the dock.
Fishermen, Neville Lewis (1895–1972), Oil on Canvas.
An oil painting of horses walking beside a river. A small boat sails down the river. There are houses and a bridge in the background.
Barton Bridge before the Construction of the Ship Canal, J. Bollans, 1890, Oil on canvas. Available to view in our Victorian Gallery.
A group of men rolling a cart into shallow water to meet two boats of fisherman.

The Return of the Lance Fishers, Heligoland

John Thomas Hamilton Macallum (1841-1896)

Oil on canvas

John Thomas Hamilton Macallum is a Scottish artist, known for his depictions of the sea and the lives of fishermen. In this painting, a group of Lance Fishers have returned home after a long day of catching fish. They are greeted in the shallow water by men pushing a cart, ready to carry their haul back to shore.

Danger

Life onboard ships could be very dangerous, and sailors on long journeys were at constant risk of being shipwrecked. Huge storms at sea could turn boats upside down, cause them to crash, or set them on fire, claiming hundreds of lives in seconds.

Artists feared and respected the water, and the Romantic Sublime was a genre that depicted the frightening greatness of nature. Artists depicted vast seascapes and overwhelming storms, representing nature as something both awe inspiring and awful, exploring the danger of humanity’s desire to be at sea.

 

A painting of the ocean. In the background there is the smoking wreck of a ship that has caught on fire. In the foreground men sit in lifeboats or cling to parts of the wreckage to stay afloat.

Ship on Fire off the North Foreland

Alfred Montague (1832-1883)

Oil on canvas

Fire was one of the greatest dangers to wooden ships which were often laden with highly combustible cargoes. The ship portrayed here has been devastated by fire and is a total loss. The crew has abandoned ship, making the perilous journey to shore in small lifeboats. Some unlucky crew members cling to the wreckage, awaiting rescue.

 

This painting is available to view in our Victorian Gallery.

A crowd of people on the shore look out to sea and see the waves are getting rougher, crashing against the rocks. Two ships in the distance get tossed around by the rough winds.
A Rough Day at St Ives, Cornwall, Frithjof Smith-Hald (1846–1903),1883, Oil on canvas.
A painting of a volcano smoking in the background. Ships float peacefully on the sea in front of it.
Vesuvius, unknown artist, 1906, Oil on paper, at the whims of nature.
A painting of a rush of water pouring over rocks in a mountainscape. A mother and child walk up the slope beside the rushing water.
Torrent Scene in Norway, Anders Hansson Kallenberg (1834–1902), 1870, Oil on canvas.
A crowd of men onboard a large ship. They cradle the dead body of Nelson who has been shot. Smoke pours over the side of the ship.
Death of Nelson, Samuel Drummond (1765–1844), after 1805, Oil on canvas, Nelson was shot and killed during his time in the Royal Navy. Available to view in our Victorian Gallery.
A painting of a shipwreck on now peaceful waters. The sky is orange and the clouds are gentle.
Shipwrecked, Unknown artist, 1800s, Oil on canvas. Available to view in our Victorian Gallery.
A crowd of people in raincoats on the beach surround a man volunteering to join the lifeboat. The weather is bad and a ship is in danger in the background.

A Volunteer for the Lifeboat

Maria Dorothea Robinson (1850-1920)

Oil on Canvas

By the middle of the nineteenth century a lifeboat service was introduced to the Cornish coast. Like today, they were manned by volunteers. In this painting, a ship in distress lies close to the shore but in stormy seas. A young man has stepped forward to volunteer. Lives may be saved but many lifeboat men died in such dangerous rescues. The young man’s mother pleads with him not to go, scared for his life.

 

This painting is available to view in our Victorian Gallery.

Life

Everyday life takes place near water, in the form of rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans. Water is so important to human lives that it is used as symbolism in poems and paintings all across the world, representing love, life, and death.

People rely on the water for both work and play. Water sports have been used for recreation throughout human history. Swimming and rowing were both sports in the first Olympic Games in Athens, 1896.

 

A group of ladies stripping at the beach getting ready to go in the water.

The Bathers

Ronald Allan (1900 – 1966)

Oil on canvas

In the 17th and 18th centuries, beaches became popular holiday destinations. Visits to the seaside were medically prescribed by doctors to expose patients to the fresh sea air, giving their lungs a break from the smog and dirt of their busy cities. People still flock to the beach during the summer holidays to play in the sand and splash in the sea. In this painting, a group of ladies pull off their stockings and sunhats, preparing to run into the cool ocean on a hot summer’s day.

Boys Fishing, Unknown artist, 19th C, Oil on Wood.
Eton Boys, W. Urach, 1932, Oil on cardboard.
Harbour, Colin Trevor Johnson (1942–2017), 1963, Oil on board.
The Pier, Derek Wilkinson (1929–2001), 1956, Oil on canvas.
Nelson (1758–1805), and Lady Hamilton (1765–1815), Herbert Gustave Schmalz (1856–1935), Oil on canvas.
Two Bridges, Clarence Willie Northing (1895–1973), Oil on canvas.
A couple stand in the shade of a tree, watching a the sunset reflect on a pond. The lady is point at herself, looking concerned.

Still Waters Run Deep

Edward Henry Fahey (1844 – 1907)

1877

Oil on canvas

This scene of gentle lovers in a peaceful landscape is set in Albury Park, Surrey, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland. It is a companion to the painting ‘He Never Came’, which is in a private collection. The title could refer to the pond or to human nature, where a calm exterior can conceal a greater depth of emotion.

 

This painting is available to view in our Victorian Gallery.

Beauty

For a long time, landscape painting was considered a lower artform in Western cultures, requiring less skill than portrait or history painting. Landscape art gained popularity as a way to appreciate nature during the Romantic era (c1798-1837), partially as a response to the Industrial Revolution and the lack of green spaces in big cities.

Beauty is subjective and many people disagree about what can be considered beautiful in life and in art. Depictions of water, both resting and wild, were considered beautiful by Romantic artists because of the strong emotional response they elicited. Do we still find paintings of water beautiful today?

 

An oil painting of four cows of different colours drinking from a river. A man sits by the side of the river with his trousers rolled up, dipping his feet in the water.

Cows Drinking

Charles Collins II (1851-1921)

1887

Oil on canvas

In this painting a farmer sits by a river and watches his cows drink. During the Industrial Revolution, it became popular to portray life in the countryside as something idyllic. People in the dirty, industrial cities, longed for life in the beautiful countryside. In reality, the work of farmers and poor people in rural areas was very difficult, dangerous, and messy, not at all how it seems in historical paintings.

 

This painting is available to view in our Victorian Gallery.

 

An oil painting of a waterfall flowing over a pile of rocks.
Waterfall, John Taylor (1735–1806), Oil on canvas.
An oil painting of deer crossing a river by the side of the wood. The deer walk towards a windy road at the bottom of a mountain.
Stags Crossing a River, F. R. Simpson (active c.1910–1918), 1912, Oil on canvas.
An oil painting of water rushing over the rocks down the side of a mountain.
Wild Wales, Benjamin Williams Leader (1831–1923), 1872, Oil on canvas.
A painting of a a river running through a field with trees. Cows cross the river, escorted by a man on horseback and a small dog.
Cattle Fording the River Brathay, Sidney Richard Percy (1821–1886), Oil on canvas.
A painting of the ocean. The top of an island is visible in the distance above the waves.
Seascape, William Worthington Jolley (1848–1915), 1907, Oil on board.
A painting of a waterfall flowing down into a calm body of water surrounded by cliffs. A person wearing a sunhat sits on a rock watching it.

Waterfall

James Burrell Smith (1822-1897)

1890

Oil on canvas

Smith was a British artist, known for his landscape paintings. In this painting, a man sits on a rock, looking out across a river towards a waterfall. Smith captures the awe-inspiring scale of nature in this painting, portraying humanity as something insignificant in the face of the great waterfall and towering cliffsides.

Local

Despite being landlocked, Greater Manchester is home to many beautiful, watery scenes because the rivers Mersey, Irwell, and Tame run through it. These rivers allowed Manchester’s large cotton and textile trade to be traded on a global scale, using boats to transport its goods far and wide. Manchester’s Bridgewater canal, built in 1761, is considered the first major canal in England!

Before photography was invented, paintings were used to document the world. Historical paintings of Salford and Greater Manchester can show us how our local area has changed over time. Look at these paintings showing scenes from Greater Manchester, do you recognise any of these places? Do they look the same today?

 

A painting of a canal with a few large, ornate boats floating along it. Along the sides of the canal, there are stands with crowds of people. Men stand and wave their top hats at the ships as they go by.

The Queen on Board 'The Enchantress' at Trafford Wharf Ship Canal, Manchester

Albert Dunington (1860-1941)

1894

Oil on board

On the 21st of May 1894, Queen Victoria opened the Manchester Ship Canal. The canal was made to create jobs for the local people, allowing them to buy and sell goods across a longer distance. This painting depicts the crowds gathered to watch the opening ceremony. People stand in the stands and cheer as the Queen’s boat sails by.

 

This painting is available to view in our Victorian Gallery.

A painting of an industrial landscape. Factories with smoking chimneys stand on either side of a river.
Scene on the Irwell, Salford, Day Jackson (active 1856), 1856, Oil on canvas. Available to view in our Victorian Gallery.
A painting of a man sailing a boat down a river. In the background you can see a tall church and a bridge.
Old Salford Bridge, James Parry (1795–1877), Oil on canvas. Available to view in our Victorian Gallery.
A painting of a river flowing under a bridge. In the background you can see a large church, and the chimneys of two different factories. People stand on the bridge and the riverbed, waving the Union Jack.
Victoria Bridge, Salford, James Parry (1795–1877), Oil on canvas.
A painting of a large Tudor building with a moat.
Ordsall Hall, Salford, John Ralston (1789–1833), Oil on Pannel. Available to view in our Victorian Gallery.
A painting of a boat sailing down a canal. There are small buildings to the side of the water, and a large bridge in the background. People and a horse stand watching the boat go by.
Barton Aqueduct and Lock on River Irwell, Charles Barlow (active 1890–1898), 1892, Oil on board. Available to view in our Victorian Gallery.
A painting of a farmer and his sheep crossing a snowy bridge. There are houses and leafless trees in the background. Under the bridge two children play on the riverbank.
Bridge over River Irwell, unknown artist, Oil on wood panel.
A painting of a large pink house on top of a hill. There is a large river flowing across the landscape. A group of people in Victorian clothes push a buggy up a hill in the foreground.

Lark Hill, Salford

Thomas Pawson (active 1812-1825)

1825

Oil on canvas

Salford Museum and Art Gallery’s building was originally a mansion house called Lark Hill Place, built in the 18th or 19th century by a man named James Ackers. This painting shows Lark Hill Place as it was before it became a museum. Does it look familiar to you?

 

This painting is available to view in our Victorian Gallery.

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