Sydney Curnow Vosper RWS, RWA was an English painter and etcher of landscapes and figure subjects. His later work has a close association with Wales and Brittany. His most famous work is Salem (1908), which shows an old woman in the Welsh national costume, with Welsh hat and shawl, attending a service at Salem Baptist Chapel, Pentre Gwynfryn.
Salem (1908)
Un cultivateur mécanique (1906), oil on card, Musée du Faouët, Le Faouët, Morbihan, France
Salem is a painting of 1908 by the English painter Sydney Curnow Vosper, depicting a scene within Capel Salem, a Baptist chapel in Pentre Gwynfryn, Gwynedd, Wales. It is noteworthy as a depiction of Welsh piety, the traditional Welsh national costume, and for a contentious belief that the devil is depicted within it. Mass reproductions throughout the early and mid 20th century ensured that the image became famous throughout Britain.
Salem (painting)
Market Day in Old Wales (1910), a later painting by Vosper also featuring Siân Owen
Detail of the shawl
The Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight