Brynhild Racing off Cowes depicts the racing cutter Brunhild powering through the Solent off Cowes, the spiritual home of British yachting. The yacht is shown under full sail, heeling confidently as she cuts through lively seas, her elegant hull and towering rig captured with a dramatic sense of movement and purpose. The composition conveys the exhilaration of competitive sailing, with wind-filled canvas, shifting light, and restless water combining to create a vivid and atmospheric racing scene.

The subject reflects the golden age of classic yacht racing, when Cowes stood at the centre of international competition and innovation. Dews’s treatment of the scene balances technical precision with painterly energy: every detail of rigging, sail trim, and hull form is rendered with authority, while the sky and sea are alive with motion and changing light. The result is a work that celebrates both the beauty of the yacht herself and the elemental forces that define racing at sea.

John Steven Dews is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished living maritime artists. From the outset of his career, he achieved remarkable success — his first solo exhibition in 1976 selling almost entirely on opening night, followed by a sell-out exhibition in San Francisco the following year. Since then, he has exhibited internationally and received commissions from some of the most prestigious maritime institutions in the world, including the New York Yacht Club, the Royal Yacht Squadron, and the Marine Board of New South Wales.

Renowned particularly for his dramatic depictions of yacht racing and the America’s Cup, Dews brings to his work an authenticity born of his own experience as a skilled yachtsman. His intimate understanding of wind, sea, and sail informs every aspect of his compositions, allowing him to capture moments of tension and balance with exceptional realism.