The Hop Pickers

On his gravestone in the churchyard is Franklin White’s tribute to Shoreham and the rural world that inspired him:

“It was the cottage gardens, the apple trees and the great barns that kept me in this country and prevented me from returning to Australia.”

The above is captured here in this delightful countryside scene depicts Shoreham residents hard at work picking hops to be brewed into beer. In the background, the distinct white tops of an oast house’s kilns peek through the trees. The detail in the trees and foliage is wonderful, with an array of green paints being used to differentiate different leaves and types of plants. The brushstrokes used for the tree leaves create a tangible sense of bushy volume, whilst the use of bright colours and an orange hue indicates that this scene takes place at the end of Summer and the start of the hop picking season. This painting is a beautiful piece of early 20th century British culture, into which the Australian-born artist was naturalising himself. His adoration for the Shoreham countryside is readily apparent in the love and care poured into this work and its diligence in capturing this aspect of rural culture.

Charles Franklin White
Charles Franklin White was born in Australia in 1892. He arrived in England in 1913 and was inspired to begin his own artistic career after viewing the collection at the National Gallery. He attended Heatherley’s School of Fine Art (London’s oldest independent art school) and then studied in Paris, before being accepted at the Slade School in 1915. During the First World War, he worked in the Admiralty Aircraft Department drawing bombed enemy planes, eventually returning to his studies in 1919. 

Franklin White, as he was known, was invited to work at the Slade after he finished his studies. In the 1920s and 30s, he exhibited with the New English Art Club, at the Redfern Gallery, The London Group and at Agnews. He would also hold study weekends at his Shoreham house, turning it into an informal art school. Franklin White painted many of the Shoreham locals, often in pub scenes or whilst they were at work. In 1957, he retired from teaching at the Slade and formally founded the Samuel Palmer School of Art at his Shoreham home. He married a former student of his, Gertrude Franklin White, who was also an artist - Franklin White’s son from his first marriage naturally followed in the footsteps of his father.

White passed away in 1975. His work is in public collections such as the British Museum, the V&A, the Ashmolean, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and the National Gallery of Australia. He was also valued by private collectors, including the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Noel Coward and Thelma Cazalet-Keir.