Hawksbill Bay
- Artist: Hurvin Anderson
- Date: 2020
- Medium: Acrylic paint and oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 1503 × 2052 × 35 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is “Hawksbill Bay” by Hurvin Anderson, created in 2020. The work measures about 1,503 × 2,052 mm on canvas and combines acrylic and oil paints to give a lush, textured surface that feels almost alive.
You can see the layers of color that build up the bay’s horizon. Anderson uses broad strokes of blues and greens to suggest water, then sharp, crisp lines for the trees framing the scene. The palette is cool yet vibrant, drawing the eye toward the horizon where light breaks over the waves.
The piece was brought on long loan from the Tate Americas Foundation, courtesy of Mala Gaonkar in 2023. It has been part of the “Life Between Islands: Caribbean‑British Art 1950s – Now” exhibition at Tate Britain since December 2021 and will stay until early April next year. After that it’s heading to the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto for a brief loan period.
Anderson, born in 1965, is known for his expressive landscapes that blend realism with a hint of abstraction. In “Hawksbill Bay” you’ll notice his signature attention to light and detail – the way shadows play across the tree trunks and how the water glints with tiny touches of white.
Feel the rhythm of the brushwork as it echoes the motion of the sea, and note how the canvas size gives a panoramic feel that invites the viewer to step into the scene.
See it in person
Hawksbill Bay is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
