Women and children on a beach (artwork)

A painting in Rita Simon's Massive Transition style, depicting figures on a beach with a boat behind them on the sea. It was produced by a patient at a psychiatric day hospital. Rita Simon found it to be a fascinating painting and a dramatic experience for the artist. The woman began painting childhood memories of the seaside: the black figures are all the children having fun. Then she painted a little figure lying down on the right, and became agitated as she said she remembered finding a dead body on the beach. The creation was a process of uncovering a repressed memory as the painting progresses. This information is taken from notes made during conversations between Rita Simon and Wellcome staff between 1995 and 1997.

The title has been supplied by the cataloguer for identification purposes.

The artwork is undated.

1940s-1997

1 artwork Gouache on paper. 35.5 x 59 cm