''Gleaming waters'' is a painting by the British painter

Henry Scott Tuke Henry Scott Tuke (12 June 1858 – 13 March 1929) was an English artist. His most notable work was in the Impressionist style and he is best known for his paintings of nude boys and young men. Trained at the Slade School of Art under Alphons ...

. It is the largest work he ever painted.Christie's: ''Henry Scott Tuke – Gleaming waters,'' lot essay by Catherine Dinn. Auction: ''Important British and Irish Art,'' London, 30 November 2000, lot 22, sold for GBP 201,750 The composition of the painting shows a bathing scene with boys on the seashore in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. This painting had not been shown in Britain since the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

Summer Exhibition of 1911, where it was exhibited as number 441 and offered at the price of GBP 400.Royal Academy of Arts, London: ''Gleaming waters – Henry Scott Tuke,'' exhibition catalogue of the 143rd exhibition, motto ''Rien sans peine,'' Gallery number VII, exhibition number 441, price GBP 400. William Clowes and sons, limited, printers to the Royal Academy, London, 1911 The painting was believed to be lost until its sale on 30 November 2000 by

Christie’s Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shanghai, and Dubai. It is owne ...

in London.

Description

The painting shows five boys on a sunny day on the beach in Cornwall. All the boys are in the sea, two of them in the water. Three of the boys are in the foreground. The one on the left hand side is sitting naked on a rock. The one in the middle is playing at the shallow water's edge. And the one on the right hand side, turning his back to the audience, is standing bare chested in the shallow water, wearing white trousers, and looking to his friend, who is playing in the water. He holds his pinkish shirt in his hands that is being blown away by the wind. At some distance, but still close to the shore, two other boys are visible. One is balancing on the pointed stones of a rock, the other is sitting in a white rowing boat with a light green coat of paint just above the water edge. The sun is reflected in the azure blue, partly green gleaming water. Cicely Robinson: ''Henry Scott Tuke,'' chapter 6: Tuke's queer lyric, Michael Hatt, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2022, p. 128 Catherine Dinn states: ''"Although Henry Scott Tuke would put extra details and the finishing touches to his bathing paintings in the studio, photographic evidence exists to demonstrate that he worked on these canvases largely in the open air, accounting for their freshness of colour and the sparkling effects of sunlight on the sea and the naked flesh of his models. In this respect he remained true to the

plein-air ''En plein air'' (; French language, 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 ai ...

precepts of the

Newlyn School The Newlyn School was an art colony of artists based in or near Newlyn, a fishing village adjacent to Penzance, on the south coast of Cornwall, from the 1880s until the early twentieth century. The establishment of the Newlyn School was remini ...

."''

Location

Henry Scott Tuke painted ''Gleaming waters'' in the summer of 1910. It is set on Newporth Beach, a part-sandy, part-shingly beach close to Tuke's cliff-top home just south of Falmouth, which was accessible only by steep, over-grown paths, or by boat. Tuke recorded the topography of this picturesque beach so faithfully in his paintings that it is usually possible to identify the exact rocks depicted.

Models

For this painting Henry Scott Tuke lists the following boys as his models: * Charlie Mitchell: His boatman and regular model * George Williams: The younger son of close neighbours. He was then aged around fifteen * Maurice Clift: The nephew of a family friend * Ainsley Marks Due to Tuke's habit of sometimes interchanging heads and bodies of his models in his paintings, it is difficult to identify each figure exactly. However, the central (horizontal) figure is known to be Maurice Clift.

Charlie Mitchell and his pinkish shirt

Henry_Scott_Tuke_Sketch_of_Charlie_Mitchell_for_Gleaming_Waters

Of the models shown in the painting ''Gleaming waters,'' also the bare chested boy in the white trousers, turning his back to the audience, and holding his pinkish shirt in his hands, can be identified. It is Charlie Mitchell (1885–1957), a boy from Falmouth. Henry Scott Tuke also captured this motif as an individual portrait in 1910, titled ''Preparing to bathe.'' Catherine Wallace points out: ''"This dynamic oil of Tuke's boat-keeper, Charlie Mitchell, was painted in the summer of 1910 on Newporth beach, Falmouth. This study was for one of the main figures in Tuke's major painting, Gleaming waters."''Christie's: ''Henry Scott Tuke – Preparing to bathe,'' lot essay by Catherine Wallace. Auction: ''Victorian & British Impressionist Art,'' London, 12 December 2013, lot 4, sold for GBP 27,500 Furthermore, it exists as a sketch, showing Charlie Mitchell in the same pose as in ''Gleaming waters'' and ''Preparing to bathe.'' The sketch bears a later added inscription on the back: Cornwall 1921, the year Tuke painted further similar portraits of Mitchell in Cornwall. Tuke repeated this motif in variations and in different techniques. There is a watercolour on paper, titled ''A bather on the rocks,'' signed and dated 1921, which shows Charlie Mitchell, lying bare chested on a rock, wearing the white trousers, holding his pinkish shirt in his right hand, and looking over the sea.NY Elizabeth Auctions: ''Henry Scott Tuke – Sketch of a boy, Cornwall,'' technique: oil on board. Auction: ''Centuries of British Fine Art,'' 10 March 2024, lot 368, estimate US$ 6,000–8,000. Note on the lot: Original preliminary sketch by Tuke, part of a more extensive piece (Gleaming waters). Verso is inscribed ''Cornwall 1921'' (later added). Signed H.S.TUKEChristie's: ''Henry Scott Tuke – A bather on the rocks.'' Auction: ''British and European Art,'' London, 13 July 2023, lot 10, sold for GBP 23,940 The use of a distinct jarring colour note as the fulcrum of chromatic organisation, such as the red jersey in the painting ''Ruby, Gold and Malachite'' (1901) or the pinkish shirt in ''Gleaming waters,'' could be compared with the practice of artists such as

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral a ...

and

Albert Joseph Moore Albert Joseph Moore (4 September 184125 September 1893) was an English painter, known for his depictions of languorous female figures set against the luxury and decadence of the classical world. Life Moore was born at York on 4 September 184 ...

. Henry Scott Tuke became fascinated and highly-skilled at painting the upper torso of the male nude. Charlie Mitchell was the inspiration for many of these paintings over the years. Frequently Tuke would paint him just wearing his white trousers, emphasising the beauty of his back.Catherine Wallace: ''Catching the Light – The Art and Life of Henry Scott Tuke 1858–1929,'' Editor William Smith, Atelier Books, Edinburgh, UK, 2008, p. 97 There was a lifelong friendship between Henry Scott Tuke and Charlie Mitchell. Mitchell served as a model for Tuke in many of his paintings. Mitchell looked after Tuke's boats for 30 years and also served as his rower when Tuke wanted to paint ships further out from Swanpool Bay. Tuke left Mitchell GBP 1,000 in his

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

.Catherine Wallace: ''Henry Scott Tuke – Paintings from Cornwall,'' Halsgrove House, Wellington, UK, 2008, p. 55Catherine Wallace: ''Catching the Light – The Art and Life of Henry Scott Tuke 1858–1929,'' Editor William Smith, Atelier Books, Edinburgh, UK, 2008, p. 153

Perception – and the end of Tuke's eternal summer in Cornwall

Henry Scott Tuke is recognised as a leading exponent of what is now termed British Impressionism. Within a few years, however, harsh reality had broken into this sundrenched idyll. All of Tuke's regular models were eventually called up during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and some were never to return, including Maurice Clift, who is visible in ''Gleaming waters,'' and who died of his wounds in France.

References