Landscape Artist of the Year on Display

Fail We May, Sail We Must, the stunning artwork by Landscape Artist of the Year winner Finn Campbell-Notman is now on display at Cannon Hall Museum.

The 2023 Landscape Artist of the Year prize was a commission from Royal Museums Greenwich to create ‘a contemporary seascape inspired by the Van de Veldes.’ The winning work draws on Campbell-Notman’s personal experience of his travels across Holland, discovering more about the Van de Veldes.

The artwork has been generously gifted to the Museum by television production company Storyvault Films to complement their already outstanding selection of artwork, which includes one of the finest collections of 17th-century Dutch works in the UK.

The work is displayed in the upper rooms of the Museum, which is free to enter.

Finn Campbell-Notman is a British artist who mostly works in oil and charcoals. He has exhibited in Barcelona, Berlin, Dublin and Brussels. Campbell-Notman was particularly inspired by the skyscapes employed by Van de Velde the Younger, depicting beams of sunlight cutting through passing storm clouds onto a relatively calm, still body of water, and beyond that to the open sea. He also uses a low horizon, allowing the viewer to look at the landscape through the eyes of the painter.

Finn Campbell-Notman said, ‘My approach to landscape painting is that a painting is rarely, if ever, a direct transcription from a single view, even those painted en plein air. One composes and constructs, simplifies, rearranges, and perhaps adds certain elements to create a picture. The finished painting is thus a record of a dialogue with what is seen and what is reflected within and want to transmit; between what is seen and what is felt.’
‘Taking part in Landscape Artist of the Year was both a fulfilling and fittingly itinerant existence.’

Councillor Robin Franklin, Cabinet Spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture, said: “We’re delighted to add such an incredible piece of artwork to our collections and would like to thank Storyvault Films for their generosity. We’re incredibly lucky in the borough to have such outstanding collections of art in both Cannon Hall and the Cooper Gallery, which are on display for visitors to enjoy and experience. Those visiting the Museum, which is free to enter, will see the painting on display as they explore the impressive rooms of the Georgian Country House.”

For more information about Cannon Hall Museum, Park, and Gardens visit www.cannon-hall.com