Reg, Bill and a BT van, Early Spring, West Bergholt
Oil on board, 1220mm x 610mm
Collection Accenture plc

Background

A “ blue planet day” (Will Self). Late afternoon on a dry early spring day in the same field as the other West Bergholt paintings. Winter wheat. Planes upper left approach London Stansted. There's a gibbous moon just visible and a British Telecom van in the center distance, parked up for a lunch break. The land is farmed using state of the art agricultural methods by only two full time men and a few contractors. Reg is looking across at his own work.

Observational:

The Belgian astronomer M.G.J. Minnaert (‘Light and Colour in the Outdoors', first published 1937) describes the distribution of light over a clear sky. Colour distribution is caused by a combination of three factors :

1. An increase in brightness and whiteness as you approach the sun.

2. At a distance of 90 degrees from the sun the sky tends to become darkest and bluest blue, but also

3. The light intensity and whiteness increase from the zenith to the horizon.

When the sun is not in the picture, as here, the darkest part of the sky is an indicator of exactly where it is.