View across Port Erin Bay
Date made: 1937
Artist: Hoggatt, William
Description: Port Erin Bay, as seen from the artist’s garden, and painted in 1937. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1939. It was given to the Manx Museum to mark Coronation Year 1953.
The style of this painting shows signs of popular artistic movements at the time. The First World War caused many British artists to embrace a nostalgic view of the British landscape, and certainly Hoggatt was passionate about protecting the natural beauty of the Isle of Man.
He consistently painted landscapes and sometimes added touches using unusual colours, frequently a popping purple blue, in the post-impressionistic style.
He did not paint in a detailed, romanticised manner, rather in a more post-impressionistic way similar to that of Cezanne – yet with notable differences such as a lack of geometric elements. This made Hoggatt’s work unique, in a style that pushes the boundaries of traditional landscape painting and does not conform to more modern styles.
Hoggatt and his wife, Dazine, lived at Yn Darrag (The Oak), overlooking Port Erin from height. They moved there in 1926 from Port St. Mary and stayed there for the rest of their lives. Hoggatt manages to achieve an incredible amount of detail whilst allowing the painting to be calm and not overcrowded – a sense of realism, without painting in a realistic style. He also creates an immense depth of field, allowing him to show his high vantage point whilst painting the scene, using more saturated colours in the foreground, and providing a more pastel, hazy effect as the scene rolls off with the hills in the background.
Hoggatt played his part in local affairs in the south of the island and clearly showed much fondness for Port Erin, even judging the sandcastle competitions on the beach in the summertime. For many people he was a well-known character around the south of the island, who might be seen out and about painting outdoors in all weathers and at various times of the day. For some, he was their art master at King William’s College in the 1920s and 1930s and for others he was the person who encouraged them in their artistic endeavours.
Measurements: unframed artwork: 86 cm x 112 cm
Materials: oil on canvas
Object name: painting
Collection: Art Collection
ID number: 1954-7549
Subject tags : Isle of Man
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