Home > Artists > Albert Goodwin > Artwork

(click image to enlarge)


The Happy Isle of Serendib Sindbad in the sixth voyage relates his adventures to the Sultan

Albert Goodwin (1845-1932)


Price
£65,000

Signed
Signed and dated 1905
Inscribed 'The Happy Island of Serendid' on label on reverse

Medium
Oil on board

Dimensions
24 ½ x 34 inches

Literature
Albert Goodwin RWS, 1845-1932, Chris Beetles Ltd 1986, Limited Edition of 1000, Plate 93, as 'The Happy Island of Salahat'

Exhibited
Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, 1905, No 126, as 'The Happy Island of Salahat';
'In Search of Sun and Shadow. The Art of Albert Goodwin (1845-1932)', Chris Beetles Gallery, October-November 2019, No 114

While always injecting his topographical landscapes with a great degree of poetry, Albert Goodwin also created imaginative landscapes inspired by his reading. Having had only a basic schooling, he developed a love for classic texts that were popular in his day, and notably the Bible, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Robinson Crusoe and The Arabian Nights, including the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. It is the last that provided the source of the present work, though the exotic flora and architecture are based on the artist’s own ‘voyages’.

On his sixth voyage, Sinbad (or Sindbad) is shipwrecked, loses his companions to starvation, and builds a raft. As a result, he arrives alone in the kingdom of ‘Serendib’, the Arabic word for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). There he entertains first its people and then its king with stories of his travels, and is treated by the king as an honoured guest. Eventually, however, he asks permission to return home. Though initially reluctant, the king accepts and bestows on him a number of gifts, including a cup carved from a single ruby to present to the Caliph of Baghdad. Once home, he similarly seduces the Caliph with his stories.

Goodwin shows Sinbad telling his story to the people of Serendib. The grove in which they stand comprises trees that the artist would have seen on his wide-ranging travels from Egypt to the West Indies. However, the building at the left is specifically that of the Jasmine Tower at Agra Fort, of which he made a drawing, probably on his visit to India in 1895. That drawing also provided the basis for a more topographical painting made in 1918.


Related Artwork