Alfred Palmer: Three Paintings of English Quarrymen
Fascinated by their expertise and strength the quarrymen became the subject of some of Palmer’s finest paintings. The men are shown at their work, with muscles straining under the effort of working the huge blocks of stone. One of the quarrymen, Victor Bower, who came from a long established Dorset family, sometimes helped Palmer with these imposing compositions. Sometimes the figures were set in bright sunlight against a background of brilliant sky or the ever-present sea. As with his painting The Bathers, Palmer’s favoured composition consisted of a trio of men which endorsed the dramatic effect of their activities.