Brighton Beach
Apart from sea bathing, the beach was a veritable treasure trove in days
when an interest in natural history and a mania for collecting were both
highly fashionable cultural pursuits. Coloured sand, shells, pebbles and
seaweed were eagerly sought at low tide. For many who had never seen them
before they represented fascinating curiosities. Put into bottles, built
into landscapes and pressed into pictures, they were interesting new material
for the artistically inclined. Artists, too, found a new subject for their
sketches and watercolours in the coastal landscape. Did you know that
Turner used to live two doors up the road at no 17?
Apart from sea bathing, the beach was a veritable treasure trove in days
when an interest in natural history and a mania for collecting were both
highly fashionable cultural pursuits. Coloured sand, shells, pebbles and
seaweed were eagerly sought at low tide. For many who had never seen them
before they represented fascinating curiosities. Put into bottles, built
into landscapes and pressed into pictures, they were interesting new material
for the artistically inclined. Artists, too, found a new subject for their
sketches and watercolours in the coastal landscape. Did you know that
Turner used to live two doors up the road at no 17?