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The
Wreck of the Dmitry, Whitby 1885
A new and exclusive limited
edition print of 500.
Size: 13" x 21"
This watercolour by John Freeman is not
a Gothic painting but a painting for goths - based on the architecture
and events in Whitby in 1885 which gave birth to a Gothic legend.
Bram Stoker, the Irish author, was a summer visitor
to the town.
Stoker may have witnessed the ship wreck of the
Dmitry in October 1885, or more probably seen a Sutcliffe photograph
of the scene.
The Whitby Gazette of October 24, 1885 records:
“The Russian schooner Dmitri of Navra,
with silver sand, came in suddenly, in heavy weather, but going
ashore in “ Collier's Hope” became a total wreck”
Frank Meadow Sutcliffe photographed this wreck,
positioned in the view of Whitby which Bram Stoker much admired.
Stoker wrote:
“The houses of the old town, the side away
from us, are all red roofed and seem piled one over the other
anyhow. Right over the town is the ruin of Whitby Abbey.”
Tate Hill or Collier’s Hope, with the East
side fishermens’ houses nestling under the church, graveyard
and ruined Abbey has inspired writers and painters for generations.
It would seem that the Transylvanian horror story,
then forming in Stoker's mind, connected with the Russian schooner
Dmitry of Navra - to become Demeter of Varna!
Thus, various images, events and fantasies became
woven together to form Whitby's connection to the most famous
of Gothic novels.
N.B. No one laid claim to owning the black dog!
Viewers have seen up to 4 dogs roaming the sky in
this evocative painting...not deliberately created by the artist,
can you see any?
£65.00
UK postage £2.00
Overseas postage £6.00
How
to order
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