Steering the Punt

The present work is a fine example of Henry Scott Tuke's skill as both a portraitist and as a watercolourist. By 1909 when this picture was executed, Tuke was an Associate of the Royal Academy and was a renowned portrait painter of the rich and famous. He was also an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society and although he mainly used watercolours for his maritime paintings of sailing ships and on his travels abroad, this work clearly shows his expertise in using the medium for figure painting.

Painted in Falmouth harbour, in Cornwall, the sitter is one of the many local lads Tuke used as models for his large figure compositions, the work features a boy steering a small working boat. He is using one oar at the back of the boat both as a means of propulsion and as a rudder. This technique was known as sculling and was often used by people working on boats in the harbour to go from ship to shore. Tuke owned a variety of boats as he used them as floating studios and he also loved to sail. He often employed local young men to take his art equipment from his cottage on the coast round to the secluded bays where he would set up the clothed and nude models for his bathing paintings.

We are grateful to Catherine Wallace for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.