Off Corton

Joseph Stannard (1797-1830) is considered by many to be one of the most talented painters affiliated with the Norwich Society of Artists and is highly regarded for his marine and shipping subjects. His work, however, is not as widely known as that of Norwich colleagues such as John Crome and John Sell Cotman. This is partly due to bouts of ill health that stopped him from painting for long periods, followed by his early death from tuberculosis at the age of thirty-three. Stannard first exhibited his work with the Norwich Society at the age of fourteen. After studying seventeenth-century Dutch Master painting in 1821, he developed his characteristic technique of high finish and flat textures. Almost all of his subjects were local scenes, and this painting is no exception. Off Corton is a masterful oil painting on panel depicting a fishing boat with two fishermen and a dog in the foreground, with sailing vessels and the Suffolk coast in the middle- and background on the right. Stannard owned a sailing boat from which he made many observations of sailing vessels at sea; this scene is painted from sketches thought to have been made in this manner. During a long illness in 1828, Stannard recuperated at Great Yarmouth and made a large number of marine and boat studies from nature along the coast. A delightful line pencil study of the boat in the foreground of this painting, which probably dates from this time, shows the same dog and fishermen, plus a third figure not included in the final painting. Although undated, Off Corton is comparable with other large Stannard seascapes from 1829, all of which share the same qualities of calm, harmony and simplicity of composition. The large planes of sea and sky evoke a sense of perfect stillness, which is highlighted by an almost imperceptible ripple of water in the foreground. A low horizon gives way to a broad expanse of sky warmed by pink-tinged clouds. The subtle, refined colouring is typical of Stannard’s late work: cool blues and greys gently dissolve into muted browns and pinks, while occasional pops of jewel-like, bright colours bring the composition to life. Stannard’s meticulous brushwork and crisp finish highlight the painting’s atmosphere of absolute and timeless calm. This quintessential portrayal of the timeless activity of fishing has been identified as the painting exhibited with the title 'Shrimpers looking from Gorleston Pier towards Lowestoft – Morning' at the 1829 Norwich Society exhibition. The Norfolk Chronicle’s reviewer wrote that had never seen any marine paintings ‘nearer to perfection’ than this oil.