William Havell, The beach at Hastings

The beach at Hastings, Probably 1812-15

William Havell (1782 - 1857)

RA Collection: Art

A view of Hastings beach with houses and the West Cliff in the background. In the foreground are a group of figures on the beach, some of whom are mending fishing nets and sails.

Havell stayed in Hastings between 1812-13 and worked there with fellow artist David Cox. In 1812 he exhibited 'Boats and fishermen at Hastings' at the British Institution. The V&A Museum has a watercolour of his entitled 'Hastings', dated 1815, and the British Museum has a pencil 'Sketch of Hastings' from October 1814.

This work comes from one of sixteen volumes of Royal Academy Annual Exhibition catalogues that were collected and extra-illustrated by the lawyer and antiquarian Edward Basil Jupp F.S.A. (1812 - 1877). The catalogues span the period from the first annual exhibition in 1769 up to 1875. Jupp added drawings, prints, letters and autographs by, or referring to, Academicians and other exhibitors at the Academy's annual exhibition.

E.B. Jupp was a solicitor who married Eliza Kay, daughter of the architect William Porden Kay. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a clerk of the Carpenters' Company, of which he published a history. Jupp amassed a large collection of paintings by British and Dutch artists, drawings, prints, books and porcelain most of which was sold after his death, at Christie's in February 1878.

Many of the drawings in Jupp's Royal Academy extra-illustrated volumes were bought from art sales during the 1860s. He was also acquainted with a number of contemporary artists and several drawings in the later volumes (along with many of the letters and autographs) were sent from the artists themselves.

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Object details

Title
The beach at Hastings
Artist/designer
William Havell (1782 - 1857)
Date
Probably 1812-15
Object type
Drawing
Medium
Pencil, pen and ink and monochrome watercolour on wove paper
Dimensions

173 mm x 120 mm

Collection
Royal Academy of Arts
Object number
03/4547
Acquisition
Given by Leverhulme Trust 1936
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