The Promenade

While living in London between 1909 and 1911, Carrick Fox and her artist husband E.P. Fox often spent their summers at fashionable French seaside resorts including Trouville, Royan, Dinard, Deauville and St Malô. This work most probably dates from this period, although it is also possible that it depicts a slightly later scene, as between 1911 and 1913 the artist spent time painting in the south of France. Carrick Fox's depictions of the elegance and idleness of the leisured French classes are arguably her most beautiful works. This painting reveals a softer, more muted quality of light than is evident in some of her other beach scenes and there is a contrast between the deepening shadows and the soft whites used to create the elegant, feminine Belle Epoque dresses.