‘His Majesty’s Mail, Kilnsey Crag, 1920’, an oil on canvas painting by the local artist, Bertram Priestman, depicts a Royal Mail coach making its way toward Burnsall. The heights of Kilnsey Crag, near Grassington, are shown in the middle background, and Simons Seat above the Wharfe Valley is shown above the Crag. The coach, horses and humans are dwarfed by the scale of the Yorkshire Dales. But in turn, the landscape is eclipsed by the huge skies above it. Thus four layers of perspective unfold before us.
And symbolically too, the transitory nature of Man’s affairs, as represented by the mail coach , are seen to be eclipsed by the relatively unchanging natural world – the landscape is still recognisable today.
The painting is to be found in the permanent collection of the Bradford Museums and Galleries Service.
The Artist
Bertram Priestman was “The finest sky painter of our day.” So said Sir Frank Brangwyn – no mean compliment, coming from Brangwyn, one of the finest British painters of the 20th century.
Bertram Priestman was born 1868 into a Bradford Quaker family. He was one of seven children, and his father, a local businessman and enthusiastic art collector, filled his home with fine paintings.
When he left school Bertram began to study engineering at the local technical college, but quickly grew bored and abandoned this idea to study art at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. There his talent was quickly recognised.
Bertram’s mature work combines the influence of French impressionism with his own atmospheric interpretation of the English landscape, characterised by its bright and luminous colours. His work was inspired by the power of nature, and its scale, power and grandeur is often represented in his work.
More information about Bertram Priestman can be found on this website, click here.