Audio Description:
Girl in Blue by Henry Meynell Rheam
Penlee House Gallery & Museum

The painting in front of you is a watercolour by Henry Meynell Rheam, painted in 1891, and entitled Girl in Blue.  It is in portrait format, measuring 89cm tall by 59cm wide, which is approximately 3 foot tall by 2 foot wide, and is under glass with a wide, gilt frame.  It shows the figure of a girl leaning on the railings of the quay overlooking Newlyn Harbour. 

The girl is the main focus of the painting, being placed in the centre foreground of the picture.  She is painted in varying tones of blue.  The sea and sky in the background are in muted blues, again of varying tones, adding to the initial impression of a painting dominated by blue.

The girl is leaning back onto the railings, which are painted in browns and blues.  Her right arm, bent at the elbow, is extended away from her along the top of the railing, with her clenched hand resting on the edge of some fishing nets hanging over the rail.  Her left arm is bent with the hand behind her back.  Her pose is deliberate and seems slightly stiff and awkward.

Her head and glance are turned towards the left of the painting and her expression is difficult to read.  Her brown hair is cut short at the front, almost chopped into layers, and seems to be gathered into a bun at the nape of her neck.  Her eyebrows are thick and her visible right ear is large.  Her cheeks and lips are a delicate pink but the skin tones are mixed with a blue tinge giving her a darker complexion.

The girl wears a long sleeved blouse in white, tinged with yellow and blue so that it almost appears to have vertical stripes.  It has small buttons down the front and a high neck.  She wears a long, deep blue skirt which hangs in folds, and an apron, painted in light blue and white, is caught up at her waist.  A scuffed black boot protrudes from her skirt, the folds of which give the impression that she is standing with her right leg crossed over her left.

In the left foreground of the painting fishing nets hang over the railings and are spread out on the paving stones to dry.  Wet nets, if not aired, could spontaneously combust.   The nets have floats, painted in browns and blues, attached to them. 

The bright light in the top left of the picture is another focal point.  The sky is a very pale blue, becoming darker as it meets the sea, and gives the impression of evening light.  The sea is also a pale blue, becoming darker towards the foreground as it meets the wall of the quay.   The paving stones of the quay are painted in shades of browns with hints of blue.

In the left mid-ground of the painting, on the sea behind the girl, is a small, masted boat and in the mid-ground on the right, nearer to the quay, is the stern of another boat.

In the background on the left-hand side, a group of small, masted boats in the distance are moored around a slipway.  The slipway joins a road that runs along the side of Newlyn harbour, and continues across the background of the painting.  The road is lined with buildings of various shapes painted in orange, browns, white and pale blue, which enhances the shadows.  The whiteness of buildings in the distance make them glow in the evening light.  Above the buildings are fields on a hillside, painted in muted greens and blues.
 
The colour blue dominates the painting from the deep blue of the girlŐs skirt to the pale, white blue of the sea.

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