{"product_id":"steve-camps-the-wild-swimmer-large-cornish-whale-oil-painting","title":"Steve Camps (b.1957) - The Wild Swimmer","description":"\u003cp\u003eA wonderfully eccentric and immediately recognisable original oil painting by Cornish artist Steve Camps, combining several of the motifs that have become central to his distinctive naive maritime paintings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Wild Swimmer\u003c\/em\u003e presents an enormous black whale moving through an intensely blue sea, its scale humorously exaggerated beside a solitary swimmer. Beyond, a three-masted sailing ship crosses the horizon while a striped lighthouse stands on a rocky island beneath a broad Cornish sky.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere is a terrific sense of narrative to the picture. Camps deliberately disregards conventional scale and perspective, allowing the whale to become the dominant presence while the tiny swimmer provides both humour and a slightly surreal sense of jeopardy. The sailing ship, lighthouse, patterned sea and sharply defined coastline complete a composition that is unmistakably his.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt 66 × 78.5 cm, this is a particularly substantial example of Camps's work. The strong blue palette and large graphic forms give the painting considerable presence, while the simple frame keeps attention firmly on the image.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eDetails\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eArtist:\u003c\/strong\u003e Steve Camps (British\/Cornish, b.1957)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTitle:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eThe Wild Swimmer\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMedium:\u003c\/strong\u003e Oil on board\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSignature:\u003c\/strong\u003e Signed lower right\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eArtwork dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 66 × 78.5 cm (26 × 31 in)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFramed dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 73.5 × 86 cm (29 × 33.9 in)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Very good condition\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eProvenance:\u003c\/strong\u003e From a group of works consigned for sale by the artist.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e Undated\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eSubject and Context\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Wild Swimmer\u003c\/em\u003e brings together several recurring elements in Camps's maritime work: an outsized whale, a solitary swimmer, a traditional sailing ship and a lighthouse. The exaggerated scale and flattened perspective give the scene its characteristic humour and strong decorative impact.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout the Artist\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSteve Camps was born in Cornwall in 1957. Camps worked as a builder and had long been interested in antique paintings and frames, but only began painting seriously following his retirement in 2023.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHis highly individual naive paintings quickly attracted attention. Maritime subjects have become particularly associated with his work: sailing ships, lighthouses, small boats, swimmers and, above all, dramatically oversized whales. Their deliberately unconventional perspective, bold colour and deadpan humour give his pictures an immediately identifiable character.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHis whale paintings have led to Camps being nicknamed “The Prince of Whales”, and his remarkable emergence as an artist later in life has become the subject of a developing feature-film project bearing that title.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Crag Bank Art","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54659892707666,"sku":"CBA-317","price":895.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1078\/0904\/6866\/files\/186104-1_125025bb-82a0-4520-a353-ab8093c03a7c.jpg?v=1789063783","url":"https:\/\/cragbankart.co.uk\/products\/steve-camps-the-wild-swimmer-large-cornish-whale-oil-painting","provider":"Crag Bank Art","version":"1.0","type":"link"}