Painter Martyn Mackrill in discussion with David Messum about his "Riddle of the Sands" fascination

Описание: Martyn Mackrill is a foremost marine artist of his generation. He is Honorary Painter to the Royal Thames Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht Squadron. This film charts his longtime fascination with the story of the Erskine Childers book "The Riddle of the Sands,' written in 1903. It depicts two sailors Davis and Caruthers navigating the somewhat difficult waters around the Frisian Islands, Germany. They are also possibly spying on behalf of the British about the Germans hiding a fleet of tugs and barges. The only explanation is that they are preparing to secretly transport a powerful German army across the North Sea to invade Britain's east coast. David Messum is the interviewer. It becomes clear that Martyn & David have known each other for a long time and share a passion for sailing. David is Martyn's dealer ,and gives some pointers to Martyn about his picture. It's a sensitive thing to do, but Martyn has utter confidence in David's judgement, and begins to repaint the sea. Meanwhile we learn of another painting going into the Messums exhibition of the "The Riddle" based paintings. It's based on a love interest in the story between Davis and the arch villain's daughter, Clara. By the end of the film, we see Martyn's painting after he has reworked the canvas. He says it's an important painting and is resolved. These works will form part of Messum's British Impressionism Exhibition from 28 May to 27 June 2025 in their Bury Street Gallery, London, also online. Finally we see Martyn sailing his beloved yacht Peregrine built in 1936 by the famous boat builders William Fife to a design by Captain OM Watts Ltd.. After 3 years of toil and trouble, Martyn and his wife Bryony have restored her to her former glory.