David Davies (1864-1939)

'Until I went to St Ives I had never painted the sea. The Studio I engaged looked out over the water, and the landlady was somewhat of an amateur artist. When I finished negotiations she asked me if I were a Bushey man, and I replied I was not. Was I a marine man? I assured her I only painted landscapes, and an occasional head or figure. But as soon as I settled down to work I found I could not keep my eyes off the sea, and for a whole year painted nothing but seascapes.' (David Davies, interview printed in the British-Australasian, 1906)

The present panel dates to Davies's first year painting in Cornwall, 1892-93, following his studies at the Académie Julian in 1891 and ahead of his return to Australia in 1893. He returned to Cornwall in 1897, after completing the moonrise pictures that made his reputation, and settled in the neighbourhood of St Ives for a further eight years.