Description
A fantastic oil painting entitled “The End Of The Race” by Jeremy King. This is a wonderful painting of the end of a rowing race at the Henley Royal Regatta in 2008. The two Fours are at a pontoon just past the finishing line, ready to disembark. A coach stands by holding two of the oars whilst the first boat unloads and the second boat awaits their turn. The officials in the finishing line box look on. King has painted this in a light impasto or stippled effect on canvas which has been laid on board, giving the painting plenty of texture. The painting is signed to the bottom right hand corner and the artist has also titled the picture and signed it to the rear of the panel.
The painting is framed in a light blue painted gilded wooden frame in a shabby Chic style. The frame measures 46 x 38 cm (18″ x 15″) with the painting itself measuring 29 x 22 cm (11.5″ x 8.5″).
Jeremy King was born in Oundle, Northants in 1933. Was head of art and design at Haymills school in Burnham, Bucks before becoming a full time artist. He painted many scenes in and around the towns and villages up and down The River Thames before moving away to Cornwall with his wife and family in the mid seventies. Many of Jeremy King’s works have been reproduced as prints and he has the distinction of not only having original works on display at The Tate Gallery, but some of his prints are in The Tate’s print collection too!
The following is an excerpt from an article in our local newspaper regarding this painting….
The King Connection…Henley Royal Regatta.
Now, whilst I recognise this may not be for everyone, art is such a personal choice after all, I love this particular painting. In order to understand why, I need to give you a bit of context. If you are lucky, at some point in your life, you will come across an artist whose work you simply adore, one of my personal passions is the art of a former local artist, Jeremy King. Added to this the subject matter of this painting resonates very well with me. One of my sons is a rower and has been heavily involved in the Henley rowing scene for the last 7 years or more. He has competed at Henley Royal Regatta for a few years now and actually won an event there last year with his crew from Oxford Brookes University.
Now Jeremy King was born in Oundle in Northamptonshire in 1933 and showed a very early talent for drawing and painting. He studied at Lancaster and Morecambe College of Art and became an art and design teacher at Haymills School in Burnham near Slough until 1967 when he decided to follow his passion, retired from teaching and became a full-time artist. Many of his works around the late 60’s and early 70’s were of riverside scenes, significant buildings or landscapes along the Berkshire section of The Thames and this is one of those. He lived and breathed the Berkshire air and painted many scenes up and down the River Thames locally. By the mid 1970’s he had made a name for himself nationally and internationally and he and his family decided to seek a more peaceful way of life and moved away to Cornwall. Prior to moving away, Mr King had built a significant catalogue of, and love for many Berkshire scenes. Jeremy King is a very successful artist with some of his work having been hung in The Tate Gallery and indeed many of his limited-edition prints are in The Tate’s print collection. His style has changed somewhat over the years with his use of colour being his most notable change, possibly due to the influence of his wife, Brenda King, who is also an artist and renowned for her vibrant colourful oil paintings.
Now this original oil painting, is of the Henley Royal Regatta. It depicts a crew having finished their race, pulling into the pontoon outside The Leander Club, ready to get out of the boat. Their coach awaits them on the pontoon and the finishing line of the regatta can be seen in the background. The picture is only a small one but for me it completely conveys what the Henley Royal Regatta is all about. Fit, healthy, mostly young men and women competing in a sport that is totally dependant upon their own skill, fitness and training. No advantage through better equipment or other outside influences. If you win at Henley it is because you ARE the best!
