Original work by DAVID FIELD
Oil on canvas
Framed size 49 x 39 cm (35 x 25 unframed)
Signed, 2012
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David Field (b.1937) is a formally trained British painter whose work captures the theatre of everyday life along the coastlines of south-east England and west Wales. His earlier works are rooted in the seaside towns of Kent, particularly Ramsgate and Deal, where fairgrounds, harbour walls and promenades feature as carefully staged settings. These paintings observe human presence with wry understatement. Figures pause, gather, or drift through the scene, incidental yet essential to the story unfolding.
Field’s paintings are defined by a strong sense of symmetry and balance. His compositions are often centrally framed, lending a post-modern, almost hyperreal stillness, like a tableau paused mid-narrative. A soft, pastel-leaning palette enhances this storybook quality, while small, telling details of human life are observed with gentle humour.
Now in his late eighties and still painting, David Field’s work feels newly resonant. While his career has unfolded largely outside the commercial spotlight, David’s paintings reveal a distinctive and quietly assured voice, one that feels both timeless and strikingly contemporary. Deeply British, quietly cinematic, and perfectly attuned to contemporary interiors seeking narrative depth and a sense of place.
About this painting, David says: “We were living in Ramsgate – a stunning place - I loved the harbour there. I was standing on the top of the hill off Addington St looking down on the harbour, and there is a semi circle of buildings. It’s hard to describe the feeling you have about a location – it’s visually led. You make a drawing and something starts to emerge, but it’s impossible to define what it is. It’s purely intuition. The palette of this painting has subtle shifts of tone – one instinctively looks for accents to place in. I change colours at will – they are loosely based on reality, but the painting takes over. If the sky was blue for example, and it didn’t really work with the other elements of the work I would change it. So it isn’t just descriptive, it’s about the structure of the picture. For me it works like poetry - e.g. Edward Thomas’ ‘Aldestrop’ is one of my favourite poems – and it’s all about how the words link together to make an experience: ‘The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat. No one left and no one came on the bare platform.’”
Original work by DAVID FIELD
Oil on canvas
Framed size 49 x 39 cm (35 x 25 unframed)
Signed, 2012
Free UK shipping included with purchase price
Please get in touch for international shipping costs
David Field (b.1937) is a formally trained British painter whose work captures the theatre of everyday life along the coastlines of south-east England and west Wales. His earlier works are rooted in the seaside towns of Kent, particularly Ramsgate and Deal, where fairgrounds, harbour walls and promenades feature as carefully staged settings. These paintings observe human presence with wry understatement. Figures pause, gather, or drift through the scene, incidental yet essential to the story unfolding.
Field’s paintings are defined by a strong sense of symmetry and balance. His compositions are often centrally framed, lending a post-modern, almost hyperreal stillness, like a tableau paused mid-narrative. A soft, pastel-leaning palette enhances this storybook quality, while small, telling details of human life are observed with gentle humour.
Now in his late eighties and still painting, David Field’s work feels newly resonant. While his career has unfolded largely outside the commercial spotlight, David’s paintings reveal a distinctive and quietly assured voice, one that feels both timeless and strikingly contemporary. Deeply British, quietly cinematic, and perfectly attuned to contemporary interiors seeking narrative depth and a sense of place.
About this painting, David says: “We were living in Ramsgate – a stunning place - I loved the harbour there. I was standing on the top of the hill off Addington St looking down on the harbour, and there is a semi circle of buildings. It’s hard to describe the feeling you have about a location – it’s visually led. You make a drawing and something starts to emerge, but it’s impossible to define what it is. It’s purely intuition. The palette of this painting has subtle shifts of tone – one instinctively looks for accents to place in. I change colours at will – they are loosely based on reality, but the painting takes over. If the sky was blue for example, and it didn’t really work with the other elements of the work I would change it. So it isn’t just descriptive, it’s about the structure of the picture. For me it works like poetry - e.g. Edward Thomas’ ‘Aldestrop’ is one of my favourite poems – and it’s all about how the words link together to make an experience: ‘The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat. No one left and no one came on the bare platform.’”
