Stephen Hunt's Our English Coasts

Our English Coasts (Strayed Sheep), which was painted before Fairlight, was finished the same year it was started whereas Fairlight took a few years to finish. Our English Coasts is consider one of Hunt’s greatest paintings because of how it incorporates the Pre-Raphaelite’s ideology. Hunt presented this painting in the Royal Academy and, like the previous paintings, it also received many comments about its portrayal of life and, in this case, the portrayal of Britain’s weakness. Stephen, a critic, reported that Hunt’s Our English Coasts depicted British as a defenseless state as the sheep were straying along the high cliffs . Landow stated that based on the perspective of this painting, Hunt may be mocking the political aspect of Britain at

Not only is the painting simple and beautiful, the color and landscape pull me away from any message Hunt incorporated within the painting; the only message I can think of when I view this painting is that the sunset near Hasten is extremely colorful. This painting contains images that present many different aspect of life: landscape, nature, people, pets, technology and heaven. The detail in the environment, the land, sea and sky really show the experience that Hunt gained over time. Compared to his earlier painting, Cornfield at Ewell and A converted British Family sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids, Fairlight Downs, Fairlight Downs has more element of light and juxtaposition of color. Similar to Hunt’s earlier paintings, Fairlight is also extremely small, only about 12 by 12 inches, but again, the amount of detail Hunt embodied within the painting is numerous and great. While others consider Hunt’s Our English Coasts his greatest masterpiece, I think that this painting is one of Hunt’s best piece as not only did it take about 6 years, it also represents how Hunt changed over the years. Since this painting was not completed in a year and the Pre-Raphaelite principle is to embody nature into the painting, Hunt had to find a way to incorporate the changes in the landscape those 6 years into the painting without removing earlier elements. This painting tests Hunt’s skill in drawing evolving landscapes and reviving his earlier work on the painting. As with Hunt’s other paintings, the detail to the environment is exceptionally detailed and individualize; thus instead of explaining the detail quality of the painting, I feel that this painting has something else worthier talking about then repeating compliments about Hunt’s delicate