Contemporary Lighthouse Oil Painting in Turquoise Painted Frame, Signed Jack Swaine

A white lighthouse on a sunny day, seen through the branches of a tree, in a chunky painted frame the colour of a seaside beach hut. This original oil on canvas is signed Jack Swaine in the lower right corner.

The artist builds the scene with thick, confident brushwork. The tower is creamy white against a pale blue sky, topped with a dark domed lantern room and a band of buttery yellow railings around the gallery. An old street lamp stands at its foot beside a black picket fence. Soft lilac washes across the water and shore below, with a strip of fresh green grass and a golden path leading the eye in. Branches of pale green leaves dip across the top of the canvas, so it feels like looking up at the lighthouse from beneath a tree on a summer afternoon. Close up, the weave of the canvas shows through the paint, which keeps the whole piece light and airy.

Lighthouses have been a favourite subject for British painters since the Victorians took to the coast, standing for safe harbour, homecoming and long walks by the sea. This one skips the crashing waves and storm clouds in favour of something closer to a holiday postcard: sunny, calm and cheerful.

The painting measures 44.5 x 34 cm including its frame, a good size for a bedroom wall, a bathroom, a landing or any small spot that needs a lift. The heavy moulded wooden frame is painted in a soft turquoise that picks up the blues in the sky, and it is ready to hang with cord on the back. The painted finish shows a few small marks from age and handling, which suit its relaxed coastal look. No sea air required.

We would hang it above a white bedside table with a jug of dried hydrangeas, or lean it on a bathroom shelf beside a few shells and a green glass bottle, as we did for our photographs. It sits happily alongside blue and white china, striped linen and other small seascapes on a gallery wall, and would make a lovely gift for anyone who loves the coast.