West Pier

An oil sketch of the beautiful old West Pier in Brighton. I painted a couple of views of this gorgeous Edwardian pier and was very sad to learn that it had burned down several years ago. All of Brighton is a strange mix of down-and-out young musicians (locals call it the Costa Del Dole) and extravagant fancies like the now-defunct pier, the boardwalk and the architecturally confused gardens, full of pagodas and other weird reinterpretations of the more exotic corners of the Empire.