British Summer Captured in 3 Paintings

Regardless of what country you grew up in, there really isn’t anything like the feel of sand between your toes. The sound of people swimming in the ocean, the smell of fish and chips in the air, it’s really quite a poetic experience. Let’s take a closer look at three contemporary paintings that capture the beauty of British summer.

Many artists have taken the time to recreate well-known beach scenes. However, as a born and bred Brit, I wanted to feature paintings in this article that captured the more specific staples of my childhood summer memories. Fish and chip dinners, castle making on the sand – a seaside holiday isn’t just about walking along the beach at sunset, after all.

1. David Fitch, Fish and Chips

There is nothing quite like the taste of fish and chips on a sandy beach.

This is a direct representation of my childhood. Take a drive to the beach, set up camp on the sand, and find the best place in town to buy a bag of chips. I would get so excited by this that I’d stuff my face so quickly that my mother wouldn’t let me go swimming for hours afterwards. But that was okay. As you can see from this painting – there’s plenty of entertainment to be had with your friends on the sand. Build a castle, dig the biggest hole you can, push each other down the sand dunes. Hours and hours worth of fun.

As a side note to this, that young lad wearing the socks on the beach will definitely regret it later on when he puts his shoes back on. His shoes will be gritty and uncomfortable for weeks! Although, I’m sure we all know that feeling…

2. Andre Hambourg, Vent, Beau Temps, au Large

There is nothing more fascinating to a young boy at the beech than seeing those shark finned sales whizzing across the surface of the sky blue sea.

It isn’t just children who get excited by the prospect of a day by the sea. If the weather’s good and the wind is just right then it’s nearly certain that you’ll see a spattering of sailing boats gliding across the waves. As a young boy I would be mesmerized by the site of these vessels darting and gliding across the horizon. I always imagined that they were shark’s fins that had been painted a multitude of different colours, decorating the sea with rainbow bunting.

As an adult, I still look out at these boats and remember the innocent memories I have of them. Although, I did try sailing once during my teens and it scared me half to death – so better to stand on the sand and watch I think.

3. Henry Kondracki, Carousel

Is there anything more exciting than a fair ground ride? The steady turning of a carousel on the seaside, parading its cast of jovial caricatures in front of wide eyed boys and girls.

Now this was something I was never allowed to take part in as a young boy on the beaches of England’s south east coast. My mother, protective as she was, never let me set foot on a fairground ride. ‘They’re death traps!’ she would say to me whenever I begged her to let me ride the carousel (on a green train very similar to the one depicted by Kondracki above).

Henry Kondracki actually captures, rather perfectly, the magic of the fairground carousel. Vibrant in color, whimsical characters sitting within a finely crafted Victorian-style casing. Is it any wonder that children from all over the globe marvel at these magical structures?