A particularly appealing double-sided oil on board by Keith Gardner RCA, with a coastal Wirral subject on one face and a rural landscape on the reverse.
The principal composition, Boat on Heswall Shore, depicts a small boat drawn up on the shore at Heswall, with the broad tidal landscape of the Dee Estuary beyond. Gardner uses loose, economical brushwork and subdued coastal colour to convey the exposed shoreline and changing light rather than labouring over fine detail.
The reverse carries a second original oil painting, Landscape Fields and Trees, showing open countryside with fields and mature trees. The two compositions neatly demonstrate the breadth of Gardner's local landscape practice, moving between the estuary coastline and inland rural scenery.
Details
Artist: Keith James Gardner RCA (1933-2025)
Title: Boat on Heswall Shore / Landscape Fields and Trees
Medium: Oil
Support: Board, painted on both sides
Signature: Unsigned
Artwork size: 27 × 37 cm (10.6 × 14.6 in)
Frame size: 33 × 43 cm (13.0 × 16.9 in)
Condition: Very good condition
Provenance: The Estate of Keith Gardner
Heswall and the Dee Estuary
Heswall lies on the Wirral side of the Dee Estuary, within an area that became one of Gardner's most characteristic painting grounds. The Royal Cambrian Academy recorded Gardner as specialising in small oil panels painted directly on location around North Wales and the Wirral. His documented subjects include boats, beaches, harbours, villages and rural landscapes, making this Heswall subject particularly representative of his established practice.
The board is painted on both faces, giving the work an additional element of interest. Neither face is signed, so the work is correctly described as unsigned.
About the Artist
Keith James Gardner RCA (1933-2025) was born in Liverpool and studied at Liverpool Art School and the Laird School of Art in Birkenhead.
Gardner became an associate member of the Royal Cambrian Academy in 1977 and a full member in 1983. He worked as a full-time painter between 1975 and 1985 before spending thirteen years at the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead.
The Royal Cambrian Academy recorded Gardner as specialising in small oil panels painted directly on location around North Wales and the Wirral. His work is characterised by rapidly handled paint, changing weather and light, boats, shorelines and recognisable local landscapes. His documented subjects range from Liverpool and Birkenhead to the Wirral coastline, the Dee Estuary and North Wales.
