Walter F. Osborne

Seated Boy and Sea

This early, undated paintings show traces of Bastien-Lepage's "square-brush" method, painted across forms to give them greater breadth. Seated Boy and the Sea was probably created in a small coastal town in northeast England, where Osborne settled in 1884. In this canvas, the artist experiments with the effects of contre jour lighting, which renders faces in deep shadow against strong sunlight.