A Wild Sunset

Contemporaries praised Dawson's technical abilities and his subtlety in the use of colour and tone. Here these skills are demonstrated in an atmospheric seascape, of aptly romantic title. Although perhaps best known as a landscape painter, Dawson first experimented with maritime painting in Liverpool, where he settled in 1844. The sea had played a part in his family history as his mother's first husband had been a sailor on the Victory.