''Our English Coasts'', also known as ''Strayed Sheep'', is an oil-on-canvas painting by

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolis ...

, completed in 1852. It has been held by the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

since 1946, acquired through

The Art Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...

Painter

was a British painter, who co-founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (1848), along with

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

and

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood advocated a return to spirituality and sincerity of the arts, despising academic painting, which they considered a mere repetition of clichés. Despite these beliefs, the group created a number of works for institutes of higher learning in England. Under the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

(1837–1901) the conservative academic aspect was represented by the Royal Academy. Among the more radical options was the movement Arts and Crafts, led by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

. William Holman Hunt was somewhere in the middle. Although he studied at the Royal Academy of Arts, he rejected the style imposed by its founder

Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depen ...

Painting

After Holman Hunt's painting '' The Hireling Shepherd'' was acquired by William Broderip, this work was commissioned by Broderip's cousin, Charles Theobald Maud, as a reproduction of the sheep in the background. Maud was persuaded to accept a more adventurous composition. He worked ''

en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...

'' at the location depicted between August and December 1852, despite cold and rainy weather. The painting combines features from different vantage points, with butterflies added in the studio modelled from life.Our English Coasts, 1852 (‘Strayed Sheep’)
Tate Gallery The painting depicts a flock of sheep lining the picturesque coast of Sussex. The scenic location painted rests on the cliffs at

Fairlight Glen Fairlight Glen lies about east of the fishing port of Hastings and west of the small village of Fairlight Cove on the East Sussex coast. It is a wooded area forming part of the Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve and leading down to Covehur ...

, beside Covehust Bay near

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

, called the ''Lovers' Seat''. The painting is painted in many layers, with brilliant colours, as many of Hunt's paintings are painted. It was exhibited at the

Royal Academy summer exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, s ...

in 1853 under the title ''Our English Coasts'', but the frame bore the inscription "The Lost Sheep", and it was renamed ''Strayed Sheep'' when it was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1855. It was acquired by the

in 1946, through

. On 30 July 2019, after the British Prime Minister,

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

visited Wales, cartoonist Steve Bell parodied the painting in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

newspaper.

References

External links

*
Our English Coasts, 1852 (`Strayed Sheep')
' at Smarthistory {{Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood 1852 paintings Paintings by William Holman Hunt Collection of the Tate galleries Sheep in art Water in art