Marine Artists of East Yorkshire - a brief history

Since the 17th Century artists throughout the world have been fascinated by ships. Whether drawn to the vigour of ocean racing or the quiet nostalgia of cruising, they have found them to be a rich and relentless artistic source.

The City of Hull is justifiably proud of its enviably rich tradition of producing marine artists whose work is held in the highest esteem in the art world – not only for technical detail but also for the remarkable craftsmanship and skill displayed accompanied by a sensitivity to the changing maritime scene. Arguably no other city in Western Europe – long regarded as the cradle of marine painting – possesses as rich a heritage as Hull, which has made a remarkable contribution to the subject.

Painting in the 18th and much of the 19th Century was essentially a craft learned by serving an apprenticeship with a Master followed by a period as a journeyman either with the same Master or another workshop. Until the latter half of the 19th Century the chief function of a marine painter was to provide ship portraits and visual records of particular craft correct in all their nautical detail to the satisfaction of the builders, owners, or the men who sailed in them.

There are two basic strands to marine painting. On the one hand, ships portrait painting which includes the faithful reportage of sea battles and naval events, and on the other hand the sea in all its modes and elements of the shoreline are of equal importance. Seascapes can truly be regarded as the water equivalent of landscape painting.

The prosperity of the whaling fleet made a particular impact on the development of marine painting in Hull and almost all of the earlier marine canvases depict vessels engaged in the artic whaling trade. It is perhaps not surprising that the adventure and excitement of hunting the great denizens of the deep in the far northern regions persuaded ship owners and mariners that it was worth making some permanent record of the vessels involved.

Regarded by many as being the founder of the Hull School of Artists, John Ward (cited by John Gledhill as an influence) born in 1798 was the son of a master mariner of Hull and was apprenticed as a house and ship painter, a trade which he was to follow until he became a successful artist. Widely regarded as the best known of Hull marine painters, his work is prominently displayed in the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull and indeed in public galleries throughout the United Kingdom. Some of Wards' best known works are artic scenes of which he had first hand knowledge from sailing with a whaling fleet.

Another great name from the 19th century is that of Henry Redmore who was born in Hull in 1820. The son of James and Mary Redmore, he lived and painted all his life in the North East and had a studio in Regent Street in Hull. The quality of his work was remarkable and he and John Ward, though not in the same tradition, are considered to be the best known members of the Hull School of Marine Painters.

Yet another great name from the 19th century is that of Thomas Jacques Somerscales. The son of a master mariner he only started painting seriously when working as a schoolmaster in Chile and he didn't return to Hull until the late 19th century where his skill developed quite independently of local tradition. A regular and much admired exhibitor at the Royal Academy many of his canvases display an apparent love of the open sea and great sailing ships but he also chose to paint historic events such as shipwrecks and naval engagements. John Fox sites Somerscales as an influence.

Born in 1898 Allanson Hick was the son of a master mariner who sailed with Hull's Wilson Line. His mother also came from a seafaring family. His surviving earliest works are post card sized sketches produced in Scotland but these were followed by a flow of accomplished drawings and paintings dating from the 1920's and 1930's. Allanson Hick built a small but well chosen collection of pictures accepted by the Royal Academy Exhibition. A great friend of Allanson Hick was Henry Hudson Rodmell who was himself a notable marine painter and one of the great designers of shipping posters in the inter war period. In 1936 both men were elected to the Society of Graphic Artists and founded the Society of Marine Artists (RSMA), of which Bruce Mulcahy is presently an Associate.

Justifying inclusion in this brief summary of East Yorkshire artists is the name of Colin Verity though it has to be accepted that he is in fact a Lancashire lad! Born in 1924 Verity was educated in Hull and enjoys a reputation more than justified by the quality of his work in the field of marine art.

Pre-eminent in the field of marine painting is the name of John Stephen Dews who was born in Beverley in 1949. Hailed as a master of the yachting art, Dews has family seafaring connections dating back to the 17th century and takes inspiration for his own work from his yacht Fine Art in which he indulges his great passion for sailing. Painting in a style approaching photographic realism, Dews now resides in Sydney. He describes every painting as an adventure, setting the mood of the sky and thus of the painting, but there are no shortcuts. It is 5% inspiration and 95% hard work.

Roger Davies is an artist whose work has assumed a prominent position in the world of marine art. His meticulous detail work, harnessed within the photo-realistic style is quite astonishing, capturing the excitement and thrill of ocean racing together with an understanding of the perils which such activity necessarily involves. Recent canvases include ‘The Big Five’ an oil painting commissioned by the owner of the racing yacht Lulworth (now hanging in the saloon of Lulworth) and Lulworth undergoing sea trials at Portovenere, Tuscany. Other pieces feature traditional craft from the locality of the River Humber; Sloop and Keel working sail vessels

Historical recreations and other nostalgic yachting scenes are the bedrock of the work of Tim Thompson a self taught artist originally from Cottingham. His highly finished style is akin to the earlier marine artists and his technique is remarkable.

David Bell was born in Lincolnshire, not far from the River Humber in 1950. After attending Trinity House Navigation School, Hull, he embarked on a nine year career as a ships navigator. After spending time at sea drawing and painting he felt his true course in life was to paint full time. David has a deep interest in maritime history, and through his work has explored in detail the life and times of notable British ships and sailors from Cook to Shackleton. He also takes his subjects from the locality, featuring the vessels of the city’s great trawler fleet. This is an area of artistic endeavour which David has in common with Adrian Thompson of Hull whose depictions of Hull’s trawler fleet at sea and at its home base in St. Andrews Dock in Hull evoke many happy memories for those still living who reaped the harvest of the sea.

From the days of the great John Ward and Henry Redmore through to the contemporary age it can be seen that the artistic tradition referred to above has survived and indeed prospered and is now in the very capable hands of those mentions which does indeed augur well for a continuance of the tradition of which Hull can be so justifiably proud.