Manx Landscape
Date made: 1904
Artist: Quayle, Edward Christian
Description: Framed and glazed in original frame, watercolour on thick paper of a rural scene of heavily wooded lane with stream at side and fields of full grown hay/crops behind. Shepherd with dog walking five sheep up the lane and two farm labourers standing by gate to field. Signature in bottom right corner.
Painted for Mr and Mrs Turnbull of Station Road, Port Erin when they moved to Island and new house in 1904.
Edward Christian Quayle was born in 1872, in Birkenhead, England. His father was a Douglas cabinet maker, who had moved to Liverpool to work on the Wavertree Town Hall. Quayle's artistic career began with training at the Liverpool School of Art before he gained a scholarship in 1891 to study at the South Kensington School of Art and the Slade School in London.
Quayle often visited the Island on painting trips, the Manx landscape making up the majority of his subject matter and inspiring the artist to paint the Manx coast and harbours. One of his most popular scenes was the Red Pier at the end of Douglas Harbour.
Quayle excelled in using watercolours, monochrome, oils, and pastels in his work. His talents did not stop short at landscapes, however - Quayle also received many commissions for his skill in portraiture, an excellent example of which is his portrait of his friend and fellow artist, Archibald Knox.
Throughout his career, Quayle showcased his work regularly at the Isle of Man Fine Arts and Industrial Guild exhibitions - and from 1893, worked from a studio on Prospect Hill, Douglas - where he had relocated his family.
Quayle also sold his work commercially, in local public houses and markets to provide an income and support for his family - often referring to his own works as 'potboilers’ and known to produce up to four pieces of work in a day. Alongside this, the artist was highly sought after to produce seascapes for the boardrooms of shipping companies. As such, Quayle produced a set of twenty seascapes, painted as panels for the smoke room and dining saloon of a South American liner.
At this time, Quayle was part of a thriving artistic community - he and his contemporaries, such as Archibald Knox, Peter Chisholm and Frederick Leach - would often meet together to discuss their craft. Quayle would also often go out on painting trips into the Manx landscape with fellow artists John Holland and James Butterworth, travelling for miles around the island by foot or train - and, sometimes, even hiring a pony and trap for their painting expeditions.
Significantly, Quayle founded a School of Drawing and Painting, and further passed on his artistic skills to the younger generation of Manx artists through the Isle of Man Art Club in the mid-1930s.
Quayle's motto for his artwork was 'As you see it, paint it' - which was exactly what he did, providing a fascinating insight into what the island looked like at the turn of the nineteenth century. He died in 1946, in Douglas, Isle of Man.
Measurements: frame: 95 x 80.5 cm
Materials: Paper: Watercolour
Object name: Painting
Collection: Art Collection
ID number: 1997-0421