Artwork of the Month: Doris and a Lad Helping Paddy, Flasher, Dick and Tom Coming Ashore by Laetitia Yhap
18 June 2026
Earlier this month, our Art Collection Officer Rachel, visited staff from the Speech and Language Therapy team (SLT), to host an Artwork of the Month activity. Speech and language therapists work with patients who have impaired speech, language or voice problems, or a combination of these. They can also help patients who have difficulty with feeding and swallowing.
In response to the work of the SLT team, Rachel shortlisted three artworks on the theme of 'communication'. The winner of the vote was Doris and a Lad Helping Paddy, Flasher, Dick and Tom Coming Ashore by Laetitia Yhap.
About the artwork:
This figurative artwork shows a group of people working on the shoreline of a beach. Four people in the foreground handle a net while three in the background bring in a small boat.
When discussing the artwork, the team said they liked the theme of collaboration, seeing the people in the painting working together to bring in their boat. They also liked the textures of the painting and said that it had a 'nice sense of distance'. They said they could feel the 'movement and action' of the painting, and that they felt like they could 'feel the wind'. One member of the team shared that it reminded her of returning to a cosy home after winter walks on the beach with family.
This artwork can be found in Atkinson Morley Wing at St George's Hospital.
About the artist:
Laetitia Yhap is a British artist of Chinese and Austrian heritage. She was born in London during the London Blitz in 1941. Following her graduation from Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in 1962, she spent a year in Italy studying Renaissance art and architecture. She completed a postgraduate at the Slade School of Fine Art in 1965.
She moved out of London to Hastings in 1967. In the mid-1970s, she was drawn to painting the fishing community, and she has become best known for her artworks depicting the fishermen working on the beach. The Artist works on her own handmade panels, often in unusual shapes. She painted the fishing community for over twenty years before discovering she was allergic to oil paint. Since then, she has explored other materials and techniques including mosaic and calligraphy.
Arts St George’s (part of St George’s Hospital Charity) is the arts programme for St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. To find out more, follow us on socials @artsstgeorges, or follow Arts St George's - St George's Hospital Charity
'Our Hospital: conserving, curating and responding to St George’s Art and Heritage Collection’ is a three-year project, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and made possible by money raised by National Lottery players. The project is focusing on conserving, cataloguing, reinterpreting and digitising St George’s Hospital’s unique Art and Heritage Collection so it can be enjoyed by many more people.
