Albert Julius Olsson (British, 1864-1942)

An invigorating yet serene, expansive blue sea, its horizon broken by distant boats, the waterr undulating and giving way to spuming breaks, illuminated by the brilliant Cornish light, oil on canvas, signed, in moulded gilt frame under glass, 90 cm x 105 cm overall

[A keen sailor and maritime artist, who knew his way from the Scillies to the Isle of Wight as 'most men know their way to the nearest station', Olsson, like many before and after him, was enamoured by the the unique light where the sea meets the sky on the Cornish coast of St Ives. Olsson's flair lies in his dexterous yet dynamic representations of the ebb and flow of the sea. This work is simultaneously a study of the wave's progress and how light meets it. St Ives became a magnet for artists following the extension of the Great Western Railway to Cornwall in 1877. Olsson taught many of them, despite having very little formal training himself. ]