Artwork
Masts
Masts is a watercolor work on paper by the Impressionist artist Rhoda Bickerdike. It dates from 1936 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Masts is a watercolour painting by Rhoda Bickerdike. It was created in 1936.
Rhoda Bickerdike traveled to Newfoundland, where she worked as a missionary and made paintings. She wrote about her time in St. John's, including a description of the 'Terra Nova', a ship that had been converted into a sealer.
You can learn more about the artist who created this painting by looking up Bickerdike, Rhoda.
Overview
Masts is a watercolour executed in 1936 by British missionary‑artist Rhoda Bickerdike. The work portrays a ship’s rigging against a muted sky, reflecting the artist’s experience of Newfoundland’s maritime environment during her missionary service there.
Subject & Meaning
The central vessel depicted is the former Antarctic expedition ship Terra Nova, which by the 1930s had been repurposed as a sealing vessel. Bickerdike’s focus on the ship’s masts emphasizes the transition from heroic exploration to the pragmatic labor of the North Atlantic fisheries.
Technique & Style
Rendered in transparent washes, the watercolour employs delicate tonal gradations to convey the metallic sheen of the masts and the atmospheric haze of the harbor. Bickerdike’s handling of line and light suggests a restrained, observational approach typical of early‑twentieth‑century travel sketching.
History & Provenance
Bickerdike first visited Newfoundland in 1930, returned to Britain in 1933 to exhibit works from that trip, and went back to St. John’s in 1934. The painting was likely created during this second stay and later displayed in her 1933 exhibitions before entering private collections.
Context
The work emerges from a period when British missionaries often documented remote locales through art and writing. Bickerdike’s accompanying article on St. John’s wharves, published in the Canadian Parliamentary Review in 1992, provides textual context for the ship and harbor scenes she rendered.
Artist & collection
Artist
Rhoda Bickerdike painted scenes of Newfoundland life in the 1930s and 40s, using watercolor to capture local harbors, fishing communities, and everyday routines.
