By the Shore 1915

Curator: Alfred William Finch painted "By the Shore" in 1915. He uses thick, visible brushstrokes, what we often refer to as impasto, of oil paint. The artwork is a plein-air painting depicting a beached boat near a stone tower, somewhere by the water’s edge. Editor: It’s beautifully melancholy. The colors are muted, even though they’re layered so thickly, like a memory seen through fogged glass. That upturned boat suggests abandonment or a pause in its working life – you can almost feel the weight of the absent fishermen. Curator: Finch's interest in materiality extends beyond simply representing a scene. His brushwork seems almost intentionally clumsy. It really shows the active engagement of the artist; this piece clearly prioritizes the creation and process over straightforward pictorial accuracy. It's rough; you can see all the labour. Editor: I love that! It's like he's letting us in on the secret, saying, "Look, this is just paint, but also...isn't it evocative?" He teases a sense of place, not so much realistic as deeply felt. Is that truly a reflection on the water or is that feeling of being afloat also expressed via those brushstrokes, that paint? Curator: I agree, and consider the context, the art world at the time. There was an interest to really break down those formal qualities, so something that is emphasizing the materiality of the paint really brings that out. It would have been revolutionary. Editor: Revolutionary indeed! There's such humility in depicting labor, beached and still. But you also can’t miss the way those small spots of green and lavender transform the whole scene into something both somber and hopeful. Do you think that hope resides in that tower still having an active function, since that figure sits atop? Curator: I do think it is, yes. These artworks from Finch tend to speak about work life but in the same vein also have an open and interpretive possibility of light, shape, and abstraction. Editor: Exactly. The light plays, the eye travels, and suddenly this simple shoreline whispers a complex story of human endeavor and artistic intent. It’s the sort of piece that lingers with you, isn’t it?