Sadly, this year's travel plans have been supplanted with overdue home projects, including the hanging and cataloging of my personal collection of paintings and other artwork. So this summer, in lieu of an overseas getaway, I could only gaze wistfully at framed pictures as I hung them—many of them reminding me of my favorite travel destinations (and vacations gone by). Let me share a few of them with you. Alas, this shall be the extent of my romantic journeys for Summer 2020. On the whole, I have little to complain of. In the meantime, I'll enjoy a few more "little journeys,' gazing at my pictures of my favorite places.
Near the Easternmost point of England lies the little coastal town of Walberswick. Today, about half the properties serve as weekend homes for the wealthy (including a fair number owned by British celebrities). But, from the 13th Century until the early 20th Century, Walberswick was a major shipping and trading port. And, in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, a number of English Impressionists frequented this seaside port, in search of handsome land- and seascapes.
Henry Moore RA RWS ("Royal Academy" and "Royal Watercolor Society") was considered the foremost marine painter of his day. He was born in York in 1831 and studied at the Royal Academy (in London), where he exhibited work in his first year (1853). His early work comprised mostly landscapes, including those painted during a year in Switzerland (1856). From 1870, he switched to marinescapes almost exclusively, gaining a reputation within that genre. This picture shows a stormy sea, battering a damaged dock in Walberswick. I love the energy, composition and muted, muddied colors of a churning, unsettled sea.
Henry Moore, the painter, does not seem to be related to Henry Moore, the English Modernist sculptor who was born after the painter died.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Pittsburgh's historic "Strip District" at Mahla & Co. Antiques (www.mahlaantiques.com) or in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248