Scarborough has been called 'The Naples of the North' and many artists have enjoyed painting here. The Scarborough Museums Trust house the town's wonderful collection (http://www.scarboroughmuseumstrust.com/#!scarborough-art-gallery/c4u3). Here is just a taster of what you might see:-
The most well known maritime artist is J.M.W Turner who painted Scarborough in 1825. A selection of his paintings can be seen at :http://His Works
One of Turner's pictures shows Scarborough bathed in a radiant pale yellow light. The harbour on a quiet morning shows a sense of stillness. In the foreground a cutter is drawn up on the foreshore, its wares being unloaded into horse-drawn carts in the surf. A Shrimper forages in the sands, tilting her head towards her a spotted dog looking at her eagerly. A small and pale coral coloured starfish can be seen between them; starfish becoming a curious feature of all of Turner’s Scarborough views made after 1809. The creature was probably a symbolic for Turner of a particular memory of a visit to the Scarborough beaches. Washerwomen are dotted at the water’s edge. Following the curve of the cove around is a number of moored vessels marking out the harbour: the focus of Scarborough’s thriving fishing industry. Beyond, atop the precipitous rocky promontory and rendered in faint wash, is St Mary’s Church and then Scarborough Castle, built by Henry II in the twelfth century.The fortress, which was battered by the Roundheads’ cannon in the English Civil War, lends the scene a sense of historical and picturesque grandeur, a sense accentuated by the stature of the headland.
Other artists who painted Scarborough
The BBC website has a great collection of maritime art, follow this link and enter 'Scarborough' in the search box. http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/search
