Surf

	Artist: Stanley Cursiter
	Title: Surf
	Year: 1937
	Medium: oil on canvas
	Dimensions:
	Suggested topic: natural environment
	Source: RSA Diploma Collection
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© Estate of Stanley Cursiter 2005. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Description: Stanley Cursiter specialised in elegant portraits, but also in landscapes and seascapes.Although based in Edinburgh for much of his career, Cursiter maintained strong links with Orkney and returned there to paint whenever possible. Being an islander and an Orcadian, the sea was very important to him. Although Surf gives no specific location, it is strongly evocative of a wild, rocky shoreline, demonstrating the power and energy of the waves. Cursiter has rendered the sea exquisitely, showing foam on the rocks, white crashing waves, the milky green of the churning sea and the blue-green of the deeper sea complete with whitecaps. This is a view made by someone who clearly loves the sea very much, and who is very much at home on the margins of the land.The scene has been painted with great energy and painterliness. It has been accurately observed, and shows a masterful understanding of colour and light. If you examine the white foam of the crashing waves, you will see not only variations of white but many colours and tones like buttery yellows, pale indigo blues, soft dove greys, and light pinky browns working together to form an impression of the spray illuminated by afternoon sun. The mood of the painting depends upon your feelings towards the sea. To some viewers this image may seem cold and inhospitable, while to others it will summon up memories of beautiful days by the seaside. The sea can evoke very powerful moods in us, and these can be very different depending on how the sea is behaving. How do you feel about the sea? Does it fill you with nostalgia or with fear? Do you like to be near the sea or not? Try writing down some adjectives in relation to how you feel about this image, regarding the physical and emotional feelings it evokes. What moods are uppermost when you write down your feelings?