The Horseshoe Bend of the Severn

The River Severn's horseshoe bend became a recurring motif for Philip Wilson Steer in his maturity. Steer was a dedicated painter of English rivers, developing a body of work along the Severn, Thames, and other waterways parallel to his earlier coastal work at Walberswick and Boulogne. By 1909 he had evolved away from early French Impressionism toward a broader, more tonal approach influenced by Constable and Turner. The horseshoe bend presented an ideal compositional structure: the river's curve creates natural recession drawing the eye around a bend toward a distant, atmosphere-filled view. Steer typically painted these riverscapes from an elevated viewpoint over the flood plain, with cattle, willows, and flat meadows completing the pastoral English scene. The Aberdeen Gallery holds this work as part of a significant collection of British Impressionism.

Oil on canvas with the looser, broader handling of Steer's mature style. Wet-into-wet passages in sky and river create soft atmospheric transitions. The paint is applied in larger, more gestural strokes than his early stippled technique.