Minstrels entertaining the crowds

Owen Dalziel came from a rich artistic heritage. His brother, Herbert, also became a painter, and his father and uncles, Thomas, George, Edward and John Dalziel, formed the Brothers Dalziel engraving firm in 1839. Dalziel became a member of the New English Art Club in 1888, where he met Whistler, and also exhibited throughout his life at the Royal Society of British Artists (of which Whistler was appointed President in June 1886), the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colour and the Royal Society of Artists in Birmingham. His main areas of specialisation were figurative scenes, landscapes and maritime painting, which come together harmoniously in the present watercolour showing a crowd enjoying a summer entertainment on a beach.