A distinctive double-sided oil on board by Keith Gardner RCA, pairing a rural track scene with a canal subject on the reverse.
The principal face, Country Track, is signed GARDNER lower left. A narrow track leads into the landscape, with trees and open ground handled in Gardner's characteristically direct, economical manner. The small scale and brisk brushwork give the painting the immediacy associated with his location-painted oil studies.
The reverse, Canal Barge, shifts to a waterside subject, with a barge set within the canal landscape. The two sides show complementary strands of Gardner's practice: one rooted in the rural landscape and the other in working waterways.
Details
Artist: Keith James Gardner RCA (1933-2025)
Title: Country Track / Canal Barge
Medium: Oil
Support: Board, painted on both sides
Signature: Signed GARDNER lower left on the Country Track side; Canal Barge side unsigned
Artwork size: 28.5 x 30 cm (11.2 x 11.8 in)
Frame size: 34.5 x 42 cm (13.6 x 16.5 in)
Condition: Very good condition
Provenance: The Estate of Keith Gardner
Rural and Waterside Subjects
Gardner's documented output ranges well beyond purely coastal painting. He repeatedly painted the countryside of the Wirral and North Wales, including fields, lanes, farms and village scenes, alongside boats, harbours and waterways.
The two sides of this board therefore show two complementary strands of his practice: one rooted in the rural landscape and the other in working waterways.
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.
He was elected to the Royal Cambrian Academy in 1977 and worked as a full-time painter from 1975 to 1985 before spending thirteen years at the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead.
The Royal Cambrian Academy described Gardner as specialising in small "on the spot" oil panels painted around North Wales and the Wirral. His output ranges from estuary and sailing paintings to parks, rural landscapes, urban scenes and industrial subjects, typically handled with direct and economical brushwork.
