a critic once complained to me that monamy's water didn't look wet: quite right, here it doesn't look like water at all. water doesn't always look like water BYNG's BATTLES 1708 Dunkirk 2 1708 Dunkirk 1 The two-pronged fork of Dunkirk's fantastic moles is a sight sufficient to suspend thought, and silence gabble, until further notice. We'll contemplate or ruminate, for the time being. It's a miserable day at the end of February, 1708, in the Graveline Pits. In my view this painting resembles nothing so much as a poster from the 1920s or 1930s. Monamy was trained in the art of advertising. The effect of this image is to emphasize, in the strongest possible manner, the implied threats of France, the continent of Europe, and Stuart rule --- in a word: totalitarianism --- fended off by the patrol of England's wooden walls. The fortifications of Dunkirk were a constant bone of contention for several decades. Since this painting was produced about 1725, it seems evident to me that Monamy is making a very explicit political point, with direct reference to contemporary agitations. 1708 Dunkirk 1 battles pre 1704       battles 1704-1739 battles post 1739 200 years later monamy website index top © Charles Harrison Wallace 2003, 2007 all rights reserved