Private Collection, Toronto
By descent to the present Private Collection
After studying at Regent Street Polytechnic under the British artists Sir George Clausen and David Murray, Dorothea Sharp moved to Paris, where Claude Monet and the French impressionists would have a lasting influence on her painting style. Upon returning to England, Sharp settled in London, and in 1920, she paid her first visit to St. Ives in Cornwall, taking residence in one of the Porthmeor Studios, which she retained for many years. There she met Marcella Smith, who would remain her lifelong friend and painting companion.
A still–life and landscape painter, Sharp would become most well- known for her pictures of children playing along the shores of Cornwall. In this lovely depiction of a day at the beach, Sharp has captured in her mature, impressionistic style three young children who are intensely focused and excited about a toy boat as it bobs in the waves. This wonderful sense of movement is further emphasized in the group of seagulls dancing above the figures in the sky.
Sharp exhibited regularly throughout her career, including at the Royal Academy. She was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1907 and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 1922 and served as President of the Society of Women Artists for four years.
