Old Bridge, Bridgend, Glamorganshire
1940
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1940
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
Old Bridge, Bridgend, Glamorganshire is a 1940 watercolor by Graham Bell, a Social Realism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This watercolour painting shows a serene landscape with a stone bridge spanning a river. The bridge has a single arch and is flanked by trees and buildings on either side. The scene is rendered in soft, muted colours, with the bridge and surrounding structures depicted in shades of grey and brown, while the trees and foliage are shown in various greens. In the background, a hill rises up, covered in trees and other vegetation. The sky above is a pale blue, with a few wispy clouds scattered across it. The overall effect of the painting is one of tranquility and peacefulness, inviting the viewer to step into the idyllic scene. The Victoria and Albert Museum is a great place to explore more artworks like this one.
A watercolour by Graham Bell from 1940 depicts an eighteenth-century stone bridge spanning the River Ogmore, with two of its arches visible. The village of Bridgend appears in the background. The artist builds the image through broad, flat blocks of colour. The work is part of the Recording Britain collection, a wartime scheme organised by the Committee for the Employment of Artists in Wartime to document places of national interest in Britain.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Frank Graham Bell (21 November 1910 – 9 August 1943) was a painter of portraits, landscapes and still-life, and a founder member of the realist Euston Road School.
See the richer artist page
