Something in the Water
Paul Newman
Something in the Water, 2019–2022
Acrylic on canvas
150 x 200 cm
Signed and dated verso
Series: English Gothic
In Something in the Water, Paul Newman delivers a vivid, dystopian vision of the English countryside in metamorphosis. This large-scale canvas—part of his ongoing English Gothic series—juxtaposes symbols of rural tradition with the slow creep of urban sprawl and psychological unease. At its center, a hollowed tree shelters a slumped figure in formal dress, his face expressionless, his body limp. Nearby, a white cow stands watchfully, while a vase of foliage and a stagnant pool add an eerie stillness to the scene.
The land around them is scorched in orange and red tones, scattered with broken fences, toppled bricks, and skeletal trees. A van, a recurring motif in Newman’s work, departs along darkened ruts into a landscape overtaken by cranes and half-built structures—suggesting erasure, construction, and displacement all at once.
Rendered with surreal distortions, theatrical lighting, and symbolic layering, Something in the Water is a powerful meditation on cultural decay, environmental anxiety, and psychological dislocation. The title hints at contamination—literal or metaphorical—echoing throughout the terrain and the figures who inhabit it. This painting captures Newman’s signature fusion of British Romantic landscape, post-industrial melancholy, and contemporary surrealism with arresting clarity.
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Rebecca Meanly
Abstract Paintings