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Caption

  • A sunset harbour scene focussed on two moored ships, with the colours of the sunset reflected in the water.

Dead Calm - Sunset at the Bight of Exmouth

Francis Danby (1793–1861)

1855

Oil on canvas

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Description

Born in Ireland, Francis Danby was an associate of the Royal Academy. He is known for his romantic landscape paintings. In his later years, Danby moved to Exmouth, which is where he painted this scene.

The scene features the pumping station for Brunel's atmospheric railway in the background. The pumping station was part of a short-lived project to propel trains by atmospheric pressure rather than steam power.

You can buy a high-quality print of this work from Art UK.

Visual description: An orange and yellow sunset at the coastal village of Starcross in Devon. The sunset reflects off the water, giving the entire painting an orange and yellow hue. There are two ships with masts at the centre of the painting, as well as some smaller boats in the background. The pumping station for Brunel's atmospheric railway is in the centre of the background.

RAMM Treasures Trail - Object 11 - Dead Calm – Sunset at the Bight of Exmouth.

Learn about the 11th object in our RAMM Treasures of the Museum trail, the painting Dead Calm – Sunset at the Bight of Exmouth.

Treasures of the Museum: Dead Calm

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Transcript

Rick Lawrence: I am Rick Lawrence and I'm the museum's Digital Media Officer.

One of my favourite objects in the museum is Francis Danby's painting Dead Calm off the Bight of Exmouth. This painting is displayed in the Making History gallery, which is the history of Exeter and Devon part of the museum, and because of its striking orangey, lovely sunny glow, you can't help but have your eye drawn to it.

Francis Danby was famous in the 1820s for his romantic landscape paintings. Danby became an associate of the Royal Academy, and then by the 1840s he'd moved to the West Country. He'd been part of the Bristol School of Painters, and in 1841 – or '47 (accounts vary) – he'd moved to Exmouth.

Danby painted this scene in 1855. One of the pleasures of this painting for me is, as somebody like Danby who moved to Exmouth, is you can walk along through Shelly in Exmouth and position yourself so you can see the scene probably where he may have painted it from.

And despite all the changes in the modern world around you, so much is still there: the channel in the estuary, the Haldon Hills, the railway line, Brunel's pumping station.

Danby has picked a really calm scene, and this is reflected in the title of the picture, Dead Calm at Exmouth, as most of the time, you get really heavy swirling currents, the force of the River Exe meeting tides.

So it's quite unusual for the estuary to be really that calm and placid, but some days it is. It's like almost a perfect reflection of the sky, the clouds and the hills. And, as depicted by Danby, one of those lovely glowing sunsets.

Credits

Watch RAMM staff and volunteers tell us why they love each of the 16 objects, and hear the fascinating stories that make these items so special.

Additional Information

Dimensions
774 x 1070 mm
Credit
Purchased from Thomas Agnew & Sons with support from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Art Fund and the Sir Harry Veitch Bequest Trust Fund.
Accession Number
306/1976

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