Heritgage Open Days 2020

Long Strand, 1996, Oil on Canvas, Boyd and Evans

Art Collections Volunteer, Corinne, tells us why Long Strand, by Boyd and Evans (above) is her favourite artwork in the collection:

‘For me, Boyd and Evans paintings, especially ‘Long Strand’ are life affirming, rooted in reality yet inviting personal interpretation. This piece, with the two human figures looking westward, has resonance with my Irish ancestry as many were forced to emigrate due to the Potato Famine. The neutrality of expression on the faces makes me wonder if they’re thinking about how things might be different had they gone west themselves, or had their ancestors not taken that brave step into the unknown.  Linking to this theme, on the right of the work, is the telephone line stretching away into the distance. Man’s invention that enables us to communicate across the miles.

The wide blue sky, long sandy beach and foamy waves just breaking on the shore firmly establish a sense of nature and place; wide open space, blue sky, scudding clouds and fresh air (unlike in a stuffy hospital) uplift the spirit and remind that we are all part of Nature and the natural circle of life.
Much of the composition has a diagonal tendency : the beach, the man made road or track, the telephone wire, yet the men’s’ gazes bring a defined horizontal to the composition, whether by accident or design, I don’t know.

I like the realism of the work, though I know it’s actually Boyd and Evans practice to form  composite images from their observations and recordings of experiences.’

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