EDWARD SEAGO | Low Tide at Bawdsey, Suffolk
Oil on Board
39.5 x 59 cms / 15½ x 23¼ inches
Signed Edward Seago (lower left)
Edward Seago’s Low Tide at Bawdsey, Suffolk is a striking coastal painting that captures the serene beauty of Suffolk’s shoreline with a refined yet expressive touch. As a leading Modern British artist, Seago’s ability to distill atmosphere through delicate brushwork and a radiant palette is evident in this captivating maritime painting, where boats rest in the glistening shallows beneath a vast, cloud-brushed sky. His deep connection to the art of Suffolk imbues the scene with a sense of quiet nostalgia, making this a compelling work for collectors drawn to the timeless charm of Britain’s maritime heritage.
Edward Seago’s serene British landscape of Low Tide at Bawdsey, Suffolk captures a fleeting, tranquil moment along the Suffolk coast, where land, water and sky meet in quiet harmony. The painting distils Seago’s deep connection to East Anglia, a region he knew intimately and returned to often, into a composition of remarkable balance, atmosphere and restraint.
Across the canvas, the eye is drawn first to the vastness of the sky. Painted with fluid, expressive strokes, it is luminous yet weightless, a dome of soft light that hovers above the shoreline. Below, the reflective water gently breaks against the mudflats, where moored boats sit suspended between sea and sky. The scene is still, but never static, there is a sense of shifting tide and of weather passing through.
Bawdsey, a small village where the River Deben meets the North Sea, was among Seago’s favoured subjects. Its working shoreline, wide estuary views and ever-changing light provided the perfect setting for his plein-air sensibility. Here, the palette is cool and harmonious, greys, blues and warm earth tones held in careful tension.
Though entirely grounded in place, Low Tide at Bawdsey, Suffolk is ultimately a painting of atmosphere. With elegant economy, Seago invites the viewer to pause, to watch the boats drift, to trace the light across the sky and to enter into the rhythm of tide and time.
