Shore Scene with Groups of Figures 1865

Curator: John William Inchbold painted this watercolor, titled "Shore Scene with Groups of Figures." It's part of the Tate Collections. Editor: Oh, a day at the beach with grey skies. It makes me think of childhood holidays, that mix of melancholy and bracing air. Curator: The lack of a precise date means it is hard to know the precise context of its creation, but Inchbold, who died in 1888, would have been working in a period that was undergoing its own industrial revolution. Editor: Right, I can see the way the figures seem so small against the immensity of the sea and sky. It is as though they're caught up in a big drama they don't control. The beach, though, is still a place of play. Curator: That's an interesting tension, isn’t it? This watercolour becomes something about the sublime and the everyday combined. Editor: Yes, precisely! A day at the beach is still a day at the beach, even when the world is changing beyond recognition.