Parasols, Southwold, 1923 by Joseph Southall

Joseph Southall was an English painter associated with the Arts and Crafts movement.  He was articled as a trainee with the leading local architects' practice Martin & Chamberlain in Birmingham while studying painting part-time at the Birmingham School of Art. He became frustrated by his architectural training, feeling that an architect should have a broader understanding of craft disciplines such as painting and carving. With this in mind, he undertook several tours in Europe which included Northern France and Italy.  Italy had a profound influence on him - in particular the frescoes in egg based tempura of Benozzo Gozzoli and he painted a series of large tempura paintings of mythological subjects that were widely exhibited.  Southall painted a variety of subjects during his career, including mythological, romantic, and religious subjects, portraits and landscapes. He was known for his mastery of the colour red, the clean and clear light in his works, and for his paintings on the theme of Beauty and the Beast.