Yale University Press epub Robinson, C: Henry Scott Tuke

A timely survey of this significant British artist and the complexities surrounding his work and reputation today Famed for his depictions of sun, sea, and sailing during a late Victorian and Edwardian golden age, the British painter Henry Scott Tuke RA (1858&;1929) is an intriguing artistic anomaly. Moving between Cornish-based artist colonies and the London art scene, stylistically Tuke presents a fusion of progressive plein airisme, loose impressionistic handling, and a vivid palette, and yet he was fundamentally an academic painter of exhibition nudes. Though consistently successful throughout his lifetime, in the wake of two world wars Tuke&;s depictions of bathing boys came to represent a seemingly outmoded epoch. This far-reaching study features new research from leading authorities on Victorian and Edwardian art, including Kenneth McConkey and Michael Hatt. Essays tackle questions of wide-ranging artistic influences, experimental art practice, and a varied reception history. Tuke&;s repeated portrayal of adolescent male nudes provokes challenging questions about the depiction, exhibition, and reception of the body&;especially the young body&;both then and now.