A Vineyard in Cyprus
Creator:
Whatley, Ernest (1874 - 1952)
Date:
ca. 1950
Medium:
Inscriptions:
Printed in lower centre recto: A vineyard in Cyprus; Printed in lower left recto: Issue by the Cyprus Government, London Office
Description:
Ernest Whatley was asked to portray Cyprus for advertising purposes. His watercolour, ‘the vineyards of Cyprus’, was made into a colourful print forming part of traditional colonial art. Whatley produced a panoramic view of the Pissouri village vineyards with the Troodos mountains in the background. With the opening of the Commonwealth Centre as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951, to succeed the old Imperial Institute, an ambitious exhibition was mounted which featured a large diorama of the vineyards painting. In Whatley’s scene, the terraced hill sides form patterned plots of cultivated land behind the primitive road defined by a low stone wall, which prevented animals from entering the cultivated land and grazing in the vineyards. A line of cofines, the large woven baskets that were filled with grapes, await transportation by donkey to the depot. Women are working in the vineyards. It is summer, July and August which are the months for harvesting. The woman in the foreground is wearing a protective white kerchief which covers her head, the back of her neck, and falls over her shoulders. Her face is sun burnt. This is a rustic scene bordering on the exotic, but realistic. It seeks to appeal through its ethnographic content.
Dimensions:
52 x 78 cm
Signature(s):
Unsigned
Identifier:
PNT-00539
Classification:
Collection:
Object Type:
Rights Holder:
© Costas and Rita Severis Foundation
Rights Statement:
The Costas and Rita Severis Foundation holds or manages the copyright(s) of this item and its digital reproduction. If you need information about using this item, please send an email to [email protected]
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