Sir John Lavery

SIR JOHN LAVERY
Brighton from the Royal Albion
oil on canvas
Collection of Brian P. Burns

Brighton from the Royal Albion

Like the view of the gardens in The Lakes of Killarney, this depiction of the popular English seaside resort was executed from the vantage point of an upper storey window. The diagonals of the natural elements of the scene (the ocean and sand) are accented with the verticals of civilization (the lightpost, flagpole, and the human figures themselves). While in such interiors as The Drawing Room at Mount Stewart, which show a tendancy towards de-emphasizing the human activity that is the purpose of those environments, these two exterior scenes gain part of their charm from the humanity that shares the natural environments depicted. It is the scattering of the figures, the visual hum of their various suggested activities, that catches the essence of the seaside resort that exists beyond its natural beauty.