FA000018 – Brighton from the West Pier, James Webb & George Earl, c1870

Part of the One Minute Wonders trail, a story written by one of our volunteers, inspired by objects on display.

By Dani Tabakova

Oil on canvas portraying Brighton’s West Pier, its fashionable visitors, and the city’s seafront buildings lining the horizon.

But can you see other people in the foreground? Maybe more different looking people?

A clear division of Brighton’s public can be seen: the fashionable visitors on the pier’s tidy boardwalk, and the fishermen battling through the rocky sea.

Notice the painting’s composition. There is little symmetry, which only makes the contrast in leisure and labour greater.

Yet, the light shines bright over the city of Brighton in the late 19th century – a beautiful place that was shared by all walks of life.