This atmospheric late-19th-century oil painting by British artist George Garth Fryer (1832-1912) depicts a coastal landscape with fisherfolk, boats, and cottages. Born in Preston, Fryer was an accomplished painter of coastal scenes, maritime subjects and landscapes.

Illuminated by the radiant glow of an early sun, the sea shimmers with a calm serenity. Moored boats are readied for the day ahead, while a family works in the foreground. Distant sails are visible like flickering candles through the golden haze of morning. Two thatched cottages stand beyond.

Fryer preferred nature as its most alluring, when the light, either at sunrise or sunset, creates an evocative mood. His coastal vistas, such as this one from 1877, capture the imagination and transport us into an idealised vision of seafaring life. Searching for the picturesque, he painted views across Europe, from rugged North Wales to the sun-drenched lakes of Italy and from the Rhine Valley to the Bosphorus. Each portrayed in his typically romanticised style.

He lived, for the majority of his life, in London.

Signed/dated in the lower right and held within a gilt frame, which is probably original.

Learn more about George G Fryer in our directory.

Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 52½” x 34½” / 134cm x 88cm
Year of creation: 1877
Provenance: Private collection, UK.
Condition: Cleaned. Craquelure throughout. Two patched repairs. The paint layer is stable. Frame with various marks and showing its age.
Artist’s auction maximum: £4,500 for ‘The Ferrymen (1877)’, Oil on canvas, Christie’s, Maritime Sale, London, 1995 (lot 605).
Our reference: BRV1707