Water in art and Emma Faull exhibition

Water has long held a central place in the history of art, used for both subject and setting as well as for its symbolism. Its visual qualities - movement, reflection, transparency, and depth - offer artists endless opportunities for creative expression.

Although we specialise and deal in maritime art, a great number of other Rountree Tryon artists use water in a number of ways in their works. From calm waters that mirror the sky (such as George Rowe's Moonlight reflecting over a pond) to turbulent oceans that evoke drama (such as William Huggins' HMS Blenheim) or using it to set the scene (such as John Worsley's Freedom and Australia), water allows artists to explore mood, atmosphere, and emotion in various ways.

The reflective qualities of rain on the street is used to great effect by Gilbert Holiday in his work, Good night 'The Old Berkley' with the city lights bouncing up off the wet street, while it is the Bosphorus that provides the mirror against which the mosques and ships are reflected in John Lynn's Busy shipping off Constantinople; both works also using water to portray the movement and liveliness of the scene.

Water is also used a medium by our artists, in their use of watercolour, and we have many fine examples by artists such as John Cyril Harrison, Nora Davison, Claude Muncaster, John Piper, and Emma Faull (see below for details of her upcoming exhibition).

Ultimately, water's versatility-visually, symbolically and practically-makes it one of the most enduring and meaningful elements in artistic expression.