Framed Oil, Off The Harbour Mouth, Edward Clark Churchill Mace, 1868-1928

Edward Clark Churchill Mace (British/South African, 1863–1928)
Off the Harbour Mouth
Oil on canvas, signed
Approx. 36x71 cm.
Frame dimensions 47x82 cm.
The picture shows signs of craquelure and the frame is slights distressed. 
 
 
Edward Clark Churchill Mace was born in Leicester, England, in 1863, emigrating to Australia at eighteen where he made a fortune from mining before, rendered insolvent, settling in Cape Town in 1901. He served on the British side in the Anglo-Boer War before turning to painting full-time, becoming one of the founding figures of the Cape Town art establishment; he was present at the meeting that re-established the South African Society of Artists in 1902 and later served as its Secretary from 1907 to 1915. South African History Online + 2
Off the Harbour Mouth is characteristic of Mace's lifelong preoccupation with the Cape coastline, painted in the soft, atmospheric light he favoured throughout his career. Rolling turquoise swells break across the foreground, built up in loose, textured strokes that capture the movement of the water, while a range of coastal mountains dissolves into a warm, hazy sky at the horizn, a compositional device recurring across his many depictions of Table Bay and the Cape Peninsula. The muted, sunset palette of lilac, ochre and gold reflects the reputation he earned in his lifetime as "a rare student of nature in her softer moods."