Littlehampton Pier

Augustus Wall Callcott's Littlehampton Pier of 1811 depicts the small West Sussex harbor with the easy naturalism of a painter who trained under John Hoppner but was most influenced by Turner's atmospheric marine work. Callcott was one of the leading landscape and marine painters of the early nineteenth century, admired by Turner and elected Royal Academician in 1810. The pier scene combines genre observation of working harbor life with careful attention to the sky and sea that reveals his study of Dutch marine tradition. Callcott's marine work occupied the middle ground between Turner's radical atmospheric experiments and conventional topography.

Callcott's rendering of the coastal scene demonstrates his solid command of marine painting. The atmospheric treatment of the sky and water and the careful observation of the pier and boats create a pleasant, accomplished seascape.