Historic Canal Warehouses and Reflections in Bude Canal in Cornwall 1978

Title: Historic Canal Warehouses and Reflections in Bude Canal in Cornwall 1978
By Tony Herbert (1927-2024)
Medium: Watercolor on artists paper, on board
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Annotated Verso: “Bude Canal 1978”
Condition: good; some slight cockling to paper and minor age-related foxing consistent with age
Provenance: From a large private collection of this artists work, Oxford, England

Description: A striking 1978 watercolour capturing the atmospheric industrial buildings along the Bude Canal in Cornwall — a unique and lesser-painted subject in British landscape art. Once an important trade route connecting the town to inland markets, Bude Canal is now celebrated for its historic charm and architectural legacy. In this composition, Herbert focuses on the canal-side warehouses, including hand-painted signage such as “Pither & Sons” and “W. H. Brown & Co.” — rendered with precision and pathos beneath a dramatic sky.

A small red boat floats in the foreground, offering a counterpoint of warmth to the cool, cloud-heavy scene. The brushwork here is loose yet carefully observed, with confident architectural drawing and fluid wet-on-wet technique in the sky and grassy foreground.

This is a rare visual record of Bude’s working canal history at a time of growing national interest in preserving Britain’s inland waterways. It would appeal to collectors of Cornish art, industrial heritage, and British topographical watercolours.