Samuel John Milton Brown
Clipper Ship
Watercolor on paper
21.5" x 30"
Featuring the sea in paintings goes back to classical antiquity. Many of the
Roman gods were often set in seascapes. But throughout the classical era artists
concentrated primarily on the human form or human activities; seas and rivers
were represented conventionally or even by figures of the appropriate divinities.
The interest in landscape for its own sake, which developed to some extent
during the Roman period, seems not to have extended to seascapes.
With the rise of the Dutch Republic toward the end of the sixteenth century came a number of talented artists who recorded both naval exploits and the sea in all its aspects. In the eighteenth century the best marine painting followed the shift of marine power from the Dutch to the English. British naval victories in the second half of the century inspired numerous works, many of them rather indifferent and stiff. The admiralty recruited artists to record events, their role similar to war photographers of modern times. Yet battle was not the only subject. Artists have given us pictures of trading ships in the Far East and the West Indies as well as scenes of fishing and coastal craft.
Until the nineteenth century the primary medium for all marine painting was oil, although artists frequently made ink and pencil sketches as working records or in preparation for paintings. Early in the seventeenth century water color paint began to be developed along with paper sized so as to capture this medium. Watercolor represents the translucent and luminous qualities of the sea, sky and clouds particularly well. Using fine brushes, the artist could capture the subtle details of a ship's rigging, paintwork and sails. The works of many of the artists shown here -- Affleck, Brown, Dixon, Law and Leitch -- were reproduced as etchings, lithographs, engravings and even printed posters. The Victorian middle classes, who loyally supported their navy and empire, provided a large market for these less expensive works. The artists gained income and increased popularity.
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the United States steadily
gained maritime power and again art followed the power.
Skilled artists found a market for paintings of passenger and merchant ships,
naval battles and yacht races. Many important ship owners and captains commissioned
portraits of their vessels. American merchants who became rich from the sea
trade were materialistic. They wanted portraits of their ships, full of precise
detail. They liked realistic painting, plain drawing, and calm water.
Despite this rich and varied history, there has been a stereotypical image of marine art as a clipper ship under full sail in the middle of a roiling sea. This was the type of image the market valued; examples hung over mantles in middle class homes all over America. The 1976 celebration of the tall ships in New York harbor perhaps began a renewed interest in a more varied maritime art. Now the public is again collecting work embracing every aspect of life in and around the sea.
Mary Chatfield, 2005
Frederick James Aldridge
Fishing Boats in a Storm
Watercolor on paper
16" x 27.25"
San Angelo Museum
of Fine Arts
One Love Street
San Angelo, Texas 76903
Fax: (325) 658 - 6800
Phone: (325) 653 -
3333
e-mail:
museum@samfa.org