20 Paintings by 19th Century Swiss, German and French Orientalist Artists, with foot notes #6

Philippe-Jacques van Bree, ANTWERP 1786 - 1871 BRUSSELS, BELGIUM SCHOOL

PHILIPPE-JACQUES VAN BREE; GIOVANNI BELLINI IN MAHOMET II'S COURT

Oil heightened with gold on panel 

58.5 x 73.5 cm; 23 by 29 3/4 in

Private collection

Sultan Mohammed II, famous conqueror who besieged and captured Constantinople in 1453, was an avid collector of works of art. He brought the famous Venetian painter Gentile Bellini (circa 1429-1507) in Constantinople, on the occasion of the peace agreements signed between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire in 1479. On that occasion, the famous Bellini executed portrait Mahomet II, now preserved in the National Gallery in London. More, (See below)

Philippe-Jacques van Bree (1786 - 1871), scholar of his brother Mattheas, was born at Antwerp in 1786. He studied at Antwerp, in Paris (where he became a scholar of Girodet), and at Rome; and also visited Germany and England. He employed himself on historical, fancy, and architectural subjects. Of the last, the Belgian Government purchased his 'View of the Interior of the Church of St. Peter at Rome,' and presented him with a gold medal in addition to the price. He was made conservator of the Museum at Brussels, where he died in 1871. More on Philippe-Jacques van Bree

Gentile Bellini (1429–1507) 

The Portrait of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror by İtalian painter Gentile Bellini, c. 1480.

Oil on canvas

Height: 69.9 cm (27.5 in). Width: 52.1 cm (20.5 in).

National Gallery 

The attribution to Bellini is not proved, but the sitter is reasonably identified as Mehmet II (1432 - 1481). Gentile Bellini visited his court in Constantinople. There is insufficient evidence for deciding whether the picture is a copy or a very damaged original."

Mehmed II, byname Fatih Sultan Mehmed (Turkish: Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror), (born March 30, 1432, Adrianople, Thrace, Ottoman Empire—died May 3, 1481, Hunkârçayırı, near Maltepe, near Constantinople), Ottoman sultan from 1444 to 1446 and from 1451 to 1481. A great military leader, he captured Constantinople and conquered the territories in Anatolia and the Balkans that constituted the Ottoman Empire’s heartland for the next four centuries. More on Mehmed II

Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. His father was Jacopo Bellini, his brother was Gentile Bellini (who was more highly regarded than Giovanni during his lifetime, although the reverse is true today), and his brother-in-law was Andrea Mantegna. He was considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting, moving it towards a more sensuous and colouristic style. Through the use of clear, slow-drying oil paints, Giovanni created deep, rich tints and detailed shadings. His sumptuous coloring and fluent, atmospheric landscapes had a great effect on the Venetian painting school, especially on his pupils Giorgione and Titian. More on Giovanni Bellini

Jean-Baptiste Henri Durand-Brager

FRENCH SCHOOL OF NINETEENTH CENTURY

WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN A COURTYARD

Watercolour on paper 

48 x 39.5 cm; 18 7/8 by 15 1/2 in

Private collection

Art historian Marion Vidal-Bue was born and lived in Algiers until its independence. She comes from a family of builders established in the country in 1832. She has written books on painters of Algeria, especially to witness the artistic importance and influence of her native country at the time of the French presence. 

She participated in the artistic illustration of the works of the Scientific Exploration of Algeria, published in 1844-1867, commissioned by the Minister of War in 1837. These watercolours form a rare and interesting set which shows scenes of life in Algiers 1830-1840 years; in the early days of the arrival of the French in Algeria. 

Jean-Baptiste Henri Durand-Brager

WOMEN IN AN INTERIOR WITH NURSE CONCERNED FOR A BABY 

Watercolour on paper 

48 x 39.5 cm; 18 7/8 by 15 1/2 in

Private collection

Jean-Baptiste Henri Durand-Brager (1814–1879) was a French painter, noted for his marine scenes and Orientalist works.

Durand-Brager, a French marine painter, was born at Dol in Brittany in 1814. He studied under Gudin and Eugène Isabey.

He was a naval officer who rose to the rank of captain. In 1840, he accompanied the fleet which repatriated Napoleon's remains from St. Helena, which island afforded him subjects for various pictures. He spent much of his time in travelling; he went to Buenos Aires with the squadron, Montevideo in 1841–42 aboard a French warship, and explored Uruguay and Brazil; he accompanied the expeditions to Tangiers and Mogador, and to Madagascar. He painted views of the places he visited, and also naval combats and sea-pieces. He died in 1879.

In the 1850s, he was in the Crimea during the war with Russia, where he turned his hand to photography as well as painting. He was one of about fifteen photographers, including Felice Beato, Roger Fenton and James Robertson, who photographed soldiers, barracks, camp life and battlefields and were the first to record a major war on film. Later, he returned to Constantinople where he made photographs of the landscape, monuments and the people.

He was a versatile painter, producing naval scenes, genre works, costumbrismo works, landscapes and works with Orientalist themes. There are several of his works in the galleries of Versailles. More on Jean-Baptiste Henri Durand-Brager

FRENCH SCHOOL OF NINETEENTH CENTURY

SCENE IN A CAFE

Watercolour on paper 

48 x 39.5 cm; 18 7/8 by 15 1/2 in

Private collection

FRENCH SCHOOL OF NINETEENTH CENTURY

DANCER AND MUSICIANS

Watercolour on paper 

48 x 39.5 cm; 18 7/8 by 15 1/2 in

Private collection

FRENCH SCHOOL OF NINETEENTH CENTURY

RECEPTION BY NIGHT IN A PALACE

Watercolour on paper 

48 x 39.5 cm; 18 7/8 by 15 1/2 in

Private collection

FRENCH SCHOOL OF NINETEENTH CENTURY 

MUSICIANS AND AFRICAN DANCERS IN THE COURTYARD OF A PALACE

Watercolor on paper 

48 x 39.5 cm; 18 7/8 by 15 1/2 in

Private collection

19th-century French School

ACROBATS, Signed lower right Durand

Watercolour on paper 

25.5 x 40 cm; 10 by 15 3/4 in

Private collection

Artwork produced in 19th-century France that reflects the teachings of the École des Beaux-Arts, the Parisian state-sponsored art academy. Prioritizing draftsmanship over painting, the school taught students to employ fine line work and soft, blended shading in their drawings. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’s drawings, such as his portrait of Mrs. Charles Badham, epitomize the Academic style, which is characterized by close attention to detail, near-invisible brushstrokes, and an emphasis on realistic modeling and shading. Academic painters often depicted scenes from history, literature, the Bible, or classical mythology, although this style can also be seen in pastoral scenes. Many of the French Impressionist painters were trained in the Academic style, though they later rejected it in favor of their trademark loose, expressive brushwork and scenes of modern life. More on 19th-century French School

Jean-Leon Gerome

VESOUL 1824 - 1904 PARIS

STUDY FOR A MOORISH BATH, TURKISH WOMAN IN BATH 

Oil on canvas 

50.5 x 40.5 cm; 20 by 16 in

Private collection

This study is a preparatory sketch for the large painting (81,5 x 65,5cm) A Moorish bath, Turkish woman bathing, painted in the 1870s and kept in a private collection (See Below). There are some other known preparatory studies: a drawing of the same composition and the same dimensions as our sketch and two oil sketches, larger format than the one presented here.

For Gérôme, a good academician, the creative process was primarily intellectual. He reflected on a conception of the final composition, which he then seized on an initial study that was the basis for the further work. This  is probably the first study of a Turkish bath, a Turkish woman bathing, which explains its freshness and spontaneity.
Gérôme worked hard on the silhouette and the attitude of the nude bather.

In all known studies to a Turkish bath, a Turkish woman bathing, the African servant is outlined. It is only in the finished work that the face appears clearly. 

Gérôme tried to create an intense psychological relationship between bather's surprise at a specific time of her dress, and her maid; he is leaning over the basin, hands resting on the edge, tense, waiting impatiently for the moment when she will feel, just out of the bath, the delicious sensation of cold foam soap.

Studies and sketches of Gerome oils were often completed by other painters, to make them more commercial. Our sketch was lucky to escape the retouching and remain intact, unaltered and entirely Gérôme's hand. More on this painting

Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax. He is considered one of the most important painters from this academic period, and in addition to being a painter, he was also a teacher with a long list of students. More on Jean-Léon Gérôme

Jean-Leon Gerome

VESOUL 1824 - 1904 PARIS

A MOORISH BATH, TURKISH WOMAN IN BATH, 1885

The final painting

Private collection

Frederik-Jan-Pieter Portielje, AMSTERDAM 1829 - 1895 ANTWERP, DUTCH SCHOOL

YOUNG LADY WEARING A MIDDLE-EASTERN COSTUME

Oil on panel 

59 x 48 cm; 23 1/4 by 18 7/8 in

Private collection

Jan Frederik Pieter Portielje (Amsterdam, 1829 - 1908) was a Dutch-Belgian painter. He was the tenth child by Gerrit Portielje, bookseller and publisher in Amsterdam, and Jacoba Zeegers. He studied at the Academy of Amsterdam from 1842 to 1849 with, among others, Valentine Bing and Jan von Braet Uberfeldt. Between 1851 and 1853 he stayed several times for extended periods of time in Paris, possibly during the summer months when the Academy was closed due to holidays. He also worked as a portraitist and as such had a growing clientele in Brussels and Antwerp.

His oeuvre includes portraits, scenes of elegant ladies in gardens, parks, or luxurious interiors. The interiors are either heavy or elegant neo-Baroque Napoleon III. He painted Western and Southern or Oriental women, often adorned with jewels. His painting are realistic, with an eye for detail and texture, intended as an elegant genre painting without much depth.

On some paintings he collaborated with another artist. There are paintings known, together with Frans Lebret (1820-1909) and Eugène Remy Maes (1849-1931).

After his studies Portielje remained in Antwerp. He married there in 1853. More on Jan Frederik Pieter Portielje

Emile Régnault de Maulmain

LONS-LE-SAUNIER 1836 - 1897 NEVY-SUR-SEILLE

MARKET SCENE IN A STREET

Oil on canvas 

55.5 x 40.8 cm; 21 7/8 by 16 in

Private collection

Emile Regnault de Maulmain

LONS-LE-SAUNIER 1836 - 1897 NEVY-SUR-SEILLE

THE REST IN THE OASIS

Oil on canvas 

47 x 73 cm; 18 1/2 by 28 3/4 in

Private collection

Maulmain Emile Regnault, 1836-1897, French school. Maulmain was a pupil of Miss Lamotte Lobrichon and Alberto Pasini. He exhibited at the Salon from 1863 until 1882, especially scenes of Algeria.

Georges Washington

MARSEILLE 1827 - 1910 PARIS

BATTLE SCENE;

Signed lower left G. Washington

Oil on canvas 

46 x 55 cm; 18 1/8 by 21 2/3 in

Private collection

George Washington, born 15 September 1827 in Marseille and died November 19, 1901 in Douarnenez, was a French Orientalist painter. Like most aspiring artists, the young Georges Washington moved to Paris, where he trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts under François-Edouard Picot (1786-1868). The artist’s exotic style was also indebted to Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863). Washington’s art conveys a similar feeling to the work of Eugène Fromentin (1820-76) who often painted naturalistic Middle Eastern scenes of rural and nomadic life. Washington’s love of the Middle East and its customs was further enhanced and encouraged by his father-in-law, the military and Orientalist painter Henri-Félix-Emmanuel Philippoteaux (1815-1884), whose daughter Anne-Léonie Philippoteaux married Washington in Paris on 6th August 1859.

Not long after finishing his training at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Washington embarked on the first of a number of trips to Algeria and based on close observation of its inhabitants, their dress and customs in 1857 he made his Paris debut at the Salon des Artistes Français with a view of nomads titled Plaine du Hoiina (Sahara Algérien). From then up until 1901 Washington continued to be a popular exhibitor at the Salon; one of his first works shown there to gain critical acclaim was Nomades dans le Sahara en Hiver. In addition to Paris, Washington also showed his work in Moscow in 1881 and was later posthumously honoured when four of his paintings were included in the Exposition Coloniale de Marseille in 1906.

Following two commissions from a Belgian company, he travelled to Morocco and then subsequently visited Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, which were to inspire his varied subjects including battle scenes and cavalry skirmishes. His travels also took him to America for the unveiling in Philadelphia of a cyclorama (a monumental 360° panoramic view) of the Battle of Gettysburg by his brother-in-law Paul-Dominique Philippoteaux (1846-1923).

Following the death of his wife he retired to live with his daughter and son-in-law at Douarnenez on the Brittany coast, where he died shortly after on 19th November 1901. More George Washington

Henri Rousseau, CAIRO 1875 - 1933 AIX EN PROVENCE

THE FANTASIA OF NEMENCHAS, ALGERIA 

Oil on canvas 

65 x 92 cm; 25 5/8 by 36 1/4 in

Private collection

Rousseau creates a  fantasy he chooses to place on the plateau of Nemenchas, Algeria. The tight framing on the group of riders launched in full immerses the viewer in the scene. The proximity thus created communicates a feeling of intense movement. The determination and pride of the riders and their horses, some of which rear up in a frenzy, is beautifully rendered in vibrant color buttons.

Henri Rousseau Henry, Emilien Rousseau (Cairo 1875 - Aix-en-Provence in 1933) is an Orientalist painter. A pupil of Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Beaux Arts in Paris, he won the second Grand Prix de Rome in 1900 and a travel grant at the Salon of French Artists. He traveled to Belgium, the Netherlands, North Africa, Spain and Italy where he admired the great masters (Rubens, Rembrandt, Velasquez, Murillo, the Titian, Raphael etc ...)

After this initiatory journey, he settled in Versailles and set up his studio at the Villa des Arts in Paris. In 1919 he moved to Aix in Provence with his large family (seven children). Knight of the Legion of Honour in arts. His work  is dedicated to Tunisia, Algeria and especially Morocco, Provence and the Camargue remained its anchor points. His success was with a bourgeois and wealthy clientele, where he sold his work at numerous exhibitions in Paris, Brussels, Stockholm, Marseilles. More on Henri Rousseau

Jules-Pierre van Biesbroeck, PORTICI 1873 - 1965 BRUXELLES, ECOLE BELGE

WOMAN CARRYING AN AMPHORA

Oil on panel 

58 x 32.4 cm; 22 4/5 by 12 1/4 in

Private collection

Jules Pierre van Biesbroeck was born in Italy in 1873.  His father was the Belgian painter Jules Evariste van Biesbroeck and like many artists of his time, he was working in Italy when his son Jules was born.  The child was two years old when the family returned to Ghent.

After a short period of practice with his father, van Biesbroeck was enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent.  He was a child prodigy and sold his first painting at the age of 14 during the Triennale Ghent Exhibition.  In 1888, when he was 15 years old, he made his debut at the Salon des Champs-Elysées in Paris with a monumental canvas which stood out because of his nude models.  The canvas scandalized the censors and the young artist was asked to cover his figures with drapery before the painting could be exhibited.  The jury gave Van Biesbroeck an honorable mention on the recommendation of William Bouguereau.  Van Biesbroeck won fame in sculpture as well as paintings and was rewarded with many commissions for the city of Ghent.

When German troops invaded Belgium during World War I, Van Biesbroeck went to Bordighera in Italy where he continued to paint and sculpt.  In 1926 he made a trip to North Africa, then in 1927, he visited Algeria.  The light and atmosphere of Maghreb caused him to change his palette and employ lighter colors and represent orientalist subjects, particularly the inhabitants of Bou-Saada.  Algiers had such an influence on the artist, that he lived there for nine years.  In 1938 he returned to Ghent, and continued to paint orientalist works.  Portrait of a Blind Arab dates from Van Biesbroeck’s early period in Algeria. More on Jules Pierre van Biesbroeck

Attributed to George Derville Rowlandson, 1861 - 1928, ENGLISH SCHOOL

CAVALIERS COMING OUT OF A FORTIFIED GATE, c. 1888

Oil on canvas 

83.5 x 61 cm; 32 7/8 by 24 in

Private collection

George Derville Rowlandson (1861–1928) was a British painter. He is best known for his equestrian portraits. Some of his work can be found at the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in Lake Worth, Florida.

Rowlandson was born in India in 1861 and studied art at Gloucester Art School, Westminster and Paris. He exhibited at the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour between 1911 and 1918 from 22 Priory Road, Bedford Park, London. He contributed illustrations to The Illustrated London News and the English llustrated Magazine, his work being mostly military or equestrian subjects, and a number of hunting scenes. More on George Derville Rowlandson

Emmanuel Dieudonné GENEVA 1845 - 1889, SWISS SCHOOL OF NINETEENTH CENTURY

THE SLAVE MERCHANT

Oil on canvas, unframed 

42 x 61 cm; 16 1/2 by 24 in

Private collection

This is a preparatory sketch for the large painting, signed lower left E. DIEUDONNE, kept at the National Federation of André Maginot, Paris. A pupil of Cabanel, Emmanuel Dieudonné exhibited at the Salon from 1876. He made ​​many Orientalists compositions. 

His later travels to the Middle East, notably to Turkey, inspired a renewed interest in Orientalist subjects, including portraits. Among the portraits he painted was that of the Turkish Orientalist painter Osman Hamdy Bey

Karl Wilhelm Gentz- NEURUPPIN 1822 - 1890 BERLIN, ÉCOLE ALLEMANDE

NUBIAN HUNTERS

Oil on canvas 

166 x 139 cm; 65 1/3 by 54 3/4 in

Private collection

Nubian hunters and warriors excelled as archers, and their weapon became a symbol for Nubia. “Land of the Bow” is the meaning of Ta-Seti, an ancient Egyptian term used to denote Nubia for thousands of years in antiquity.

Hunters using bows and arrows appear in Nubian rock art as early as the Neolithic period and hunting provided subsistence for Nubians throughout much of their history. Some of Nubia’s most important trade products, like animal skins and ivory, came from the hunt. More on Nubian hunters

Karl Wilhelm Gentz ​​(1822 - 1890) was a German painter. The second child of Johann Christian Gentz. Initially enrolled at Berlin's Friedrich Wilhelm University, he decided at age 21 to study painting. He attended the prestigious Atelier Kloeber and studied in 1845 for nine months at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts. He entered the school Atelier Paul Delaroche, which was then under the direction of Charles Gleyre. In 1847 he traveled to Spain and Morocco Returning to Paris, he painted The Prodigal Son in the desert, a life-size figure. In 1850 he went to Marseille and Malta, then Egypt and the Sinai; on his way back he traveled over Asia Minor, the Greek archipelago, Constantinople and Vienna.

In 1852, while living temporarily in Berlin, his first paintings of  oriental life emerged: "Slave Market" and "Egyptian School".  Not satisfied, Gentz returned to Paris and joined the studio of Thomas Couture. There painted two religious images with life-size figures, Christ and Magdalene and Simon and Chris.

In 1858, again in Berlin, he created a long series of Oriental Paintings, mostly Egyptian, for the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts. The oeuvre of the artist are very large; sometimes the figures are primarily, the character of the land and people are sharply defined. More on Karl Wilhelm Gentz

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18 Classic Works of Art, Marine and Seascape Paintings - with footnotes -11

DEREK GEORGE MONTAGUE GARDNER, (British, 1914-2007)

The battle between the H.M.S. Shannon and the U.S.S. Chesapeake 

Oil on Canvas

13-1/4 x 19 in. (33.6 x 48.2 cm.)

This painting: During the War of 1812, the duel between the Royal Navy's frigate H.M.S. Shannon and the American frigate Chesapeake became a critical moment of the war. Cruising off the eastern seaboard in May, Captain Philip Broke of the Shannon had spotted the American frigates Chesapeake and Constitution refitting in Boston. Broke immediately challenged Captain Lawrence of the Chesapeake to come out and fight, sending a verbal challenge. However, this challenge went unanswered and Broke soon began to despair of Chesapeake ever leaving the harbor, and so he later sent a written challenge, and at noon on 1st June 1813, the Chesapeake stood out of Boston Roads for battle. A furious action followed lasting a mere fifteen minutes; Captain Broke was mortally wounded leading his boarding party, and casualties on both vessels were very high. Soon overwhelmed, Chesapeake surrendered and Shannon took her as a prize into Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Derek George Montague Gardner (13 February 1914 – 11 February 2007) is best known as an English painter. After a career as a civil engineer before and after serving in the Royal Navy in the Second World War, he became widely recognised as one of the leading English painters of marine subjects.

He was educated at Oundle School, where he won a prize for his drawing. He left school in 1931, and trained as a civil engineer in Glasgow with the London Midland & Scottish Railway. He later joined Sir William Arrol & Co. He joined the RNVR as a 20-year-old midshipman, and took up painting watercolours of warships. He became a docks engineer at North Shields in 1938. More

Derek George Montague Gardner (British, 1914-2007)

The H.M.S. Suberb 

Watercolor on paper

9-1/2 x 13-3/4 in. (24.1 x 34.9 cm.)

HMS Superb was a 74-gun Bellona-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 October 1760 at Deptford Dockyard. The Superb was Admiral Edward Hughes's flagship in India in 1782 during a notable series of engagements with the French under Suffren.

On 20 June 1783 Bellona took part in the Battle of Cuddalore before returning to Bombay for copper sheathing along her hull. On 7 November she developed a severe leak through the sheathing into the bilge, and sank in Tellicherry Roads off the Bombay coast. More

Derek George Montague Gardner (British, 1914-2007)

The H.M.S. Royal Sovereign off of Fort Manoel, Valletta, Malta 

Watercolor on paper

13-1/2 x 20 in. (34.2 x 50.8 cm.

HMS Royal Sovereign was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, which served as the flagship of Admiral Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar (see below). She was the third of seven Royal Navy ships to bear the name. Designed by Sir Edward Hunt, she was launched at Plymouth Dockyard on 11 September 1786, at a cost of £67,458, and was the only ship built to her draught. She was known by her crew as the "West Country Wagon" due to her poor manoeuvrability and speed. More

Nicholas Pocock (1740–1821)

H.M.S. Euryalus, c. 1810

Watercolor and pen with black Indian ink on paper

17.6 × 27.5 cm (6.9 × 10.8 in)

National Maritime Museum, London, United Kingdom

Storm, the Day after the Battle of Trafalgar, the "Victory" under courses endeavouring to Clear the Land. The "Royal Sovereign" in Tow by the "Euryalus". The view is towards the coast of Spain off Cadiz, with the lighthouse at Rota in the centre left distance, and 'Victory' heading towards it in stern view over the tow-line. To the right are disabled enemy ships, including prizes, some being cast away in the post-Trafalgar storm. More

HMS Euryalus was a Royal Navy 36-gun Apollo-class frigate, which saw service in the Battle of Trafalgar and the War of 1812. During her career she was commanded by three prominent naval personalities of the Napoleonic and post-Napoleonic period, Henry Blackwood, George Dundas and Charles Napier. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars she continued on active service for a number of years, before spending more than two decades as a prison hulk. She ended her career in Gibraltar where, in 1860, she was sold for breaking up. More

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is best known as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

She was also Keppel's flagship at Ushant, Howe's flagship at Cape Spartel and Jervis's flagship at Cape St Vincent. After 1824, she served as a harbour ship.

In 1922, she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth, England, and preserved as a museum ship. She has been the flagship of the First Sea Lord since October 2012 and is the world's oldest naval ship still in commission. More

Nicholas Pocock (2 March 1740 – 9 March 1821) was a British artist known for his many detailed paintings of naval battles during the age of sail. Pocock was born in Bristol in 1740, the son of a seaman. He followed his father's profession and was master of a merchant ship by the age of 26. During his time at sea, he became a skilled artist by making ink and wash sketches of ships and coastal scenes for his log books.

In 1778, Pocock's employer, Richard Champion, became financially insolvent due to the effects of the American Revolutionary War on transatlantic trade. As a result, Pocock gave up the sea and devoted himself to painting. The first of his works were exhibited by the Royal Academy in 1782.

Later that year, Pocock was commissioned to produce a series of paintings illustrating George Rodney's victory at the Battle of the Saintes. In 1789, he moved to London, where his reputation and contacts continued to grow. He was a favourite of Samuel Hood and was appointed Marine Painter to King George.

Pocock's naval paintings incorporated extensive research, including interviewing eyewitnesses about weather and wind conditions as well as the positions, condition, and appearance of their ships; and drawing detailed plans of the battle and preliminary sketches of individual ships. He was also present himself at the Glorious First of June in 1794, on board the frigate HMS Pegasus.

In addition to his large-scale oil paintings depicting naval battles, Pocock also produced many watercolours of coastal and ship scenes. More

DEREK GEORGE MONTAGUE GARDNER, (British, 1914-2007)

Nelson's Santa Cruz Squadron

Watercolor on paper

15 x 20 in. (38.1 x 50.8 cm.)

The Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was an amphibious assault by the Royal Navy on the Spanish port city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Launched by Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson on 22 July 1797, the assault was defeated, and on 25 July the remains of the landing party withdrew under a truce, having lost several hundred men. Nelson himself had been wounded in the arm, which was subsequently partially amputated: a stigma that he carried to his grave as a constant reminder of his failure. More

Richard Westall (1765–1836)

Nelson wounded at Tenerife, 24 July 1797, c. 1806

Oil on canvas

86.6 × 71 cm (34.1 × 28 in)

National Maritime Museum, London, United Kingdom

In the painting, Nelson's barge is shown beached in the surf, in port-bow view. Hit on the point of landing he reeled and staggered back into the boat where he lies, having transferred his sword to his left hand. He is supported by a sailor and there is blood on the sailor's shirt and on the lining of Nelson's coat. Lieutenant Josiah Nisbet, Nelson's stepson, stands behind him and is saving his life by staunching the blood. Behind him and to the left are two other lieutenants. Also in the barge and to the right of the group is a third lieutenant grasping a boarding pike, with two sailors behind him. In the left foreground standing in the shallow water is Captain Thompson, arms outstretched towards Nelson, together with another lieutenant. In the left background is a bow view of another boat approaching the beach. In the right foreground the artist has used the waves to enhance the dramatic impact. Westall has conveyed the staged effect by employing a dramatic language of gesture and expression. This painting of the incident was made in 1806. It was commissioned by John M'Arthur, as a plate for 'The Life of Admiral Lord Nelson, KB', which he published with James Stanier Clarke in 1809, and which was the first major biography of Nelson. More

Richard Westall RA (2 January 1765 – 4 December 1836) was an English painter and illustrator of portraits, historical and literary events, best known for his portraits of Byron. He was also Queen Victoria's drawing master. Born oin Reepham near Norwich, Richard Westall moved to London after the death of his mother and the bankruptcy of his father in 1772. Westall was apprenticed to a heraldic silver engraver in 1779, where he was encouraged to become a painter by John Alefounder; he then began studying at the Royal Academy School of Arts from 10 December 1785. He exhibited at the Academy regularly between 1784 and 1836, became an Associate in November 1792 and was elected an Academician on 10 February 1794. From 1790 to 1795 he shared a house with Thomas Lawrence (later Sir), the future Royal Academy president, each of the artists placing their name on one of the entrances. More

Samuel Atkins (British, fl.1787-1808)

The loss of the Romney 

watercolor and pencil, heightened with body color 

9-1/4 x 13-3/4 in. (23.4 x 34.9 cm.),

The loss of the Romney, 50 guns off the Texel on the evening of November 19th 1804. Showing the flag of truce run up when calling on enemy boats for assistance.

HMS Romney was a 50-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in a career that spanned forty years.

Launched in 1762, the Romney spent most of her early career in North American waters, serving on the Newfoundland station, often as the flagship of the commander-in-chief. The ship was involved in the tensions leading up to the American Revolution when she was sent to support the Boston commissioners enforcing the Townshend Acts in 1768. Her actions involved impressing local sailors, confiscating a vessel belonging to John Hancock and providing a refuge for the unpopular commissioners when rioting broke out. She remained in American waters for part of the ensuing war, but towards the end operated in European waters after the French entry to the conflict.


The Romney was laid up in ordinary or under repair for most of the subsequent years of peace, but returned to active service on the outbreak of war with Revolutionary France. She was in the Mediterranean supporting Lord Hood's occupation of Toulon in 1793, and remained there for several years. During this time she captured the 44-gun French Sibylle. The Romney briefly returned to North America and then served in the Red Sea. Assigned to blockade the Dutch coast, the Romney ran aground in November 1804 while sailing to join the fleet off Den Helder. She broke up after attempts to float her off failed. More

Samuel Atkins (fl. 1787–1808), was a British marine painter. Atkins contributed to the Royal Academy between 1787 and 1796. From 1796 to 1804 he was in the East Indies, when he returned to England, and continued to exhibit until 1808. He worked in oil and water-colour. The water-colour collections of South Kensington and the British Museum have each an example of his work. It is rather early in manner, low in tone, quiet, and truthful. A picture of ‘Shakespeare's Cliff, Dover,’ has been engraved after him by R. and D. Havell. Nagler attributes to this Samuel Atkins the originals of two engravings of sea-subjects after ‘— Atkins:’ ‘Ships in Sight of Harbour,’ engraved in aquatint by H. Merke; and ‘A Sea Piece,’ by F. Janinet. A water-colour drawing also, ‘Seascape with Ships,’ he gives to this painter. More

Samuel Atkins (British, fl.1787-1808)

The blockade of Toulon

depicting three British frigates on a reach, holding a battle line.

signed lower left: "Atkins"

watercolor on paper

14-1/2 x 21 in. (36.8 x 53.3 cm.)

The Action of 5 November 1813 was a brief naval clash during the Napoleonic Wars, between part of the British Mediterranean Fleet led by Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, and a French force under Rear-Admiral Julien Cosmao-Kerjulien. The engagement took place outside the French port of Toulon.

The clash occurred when a French fleet under Vice-Admiral Maxime Julien Émeriau de Beauverger took advantage of a favourable wind and the temporary absence of the British blockading force, to leave port to carry out exercises. Émeriau abandoned the exercises when the wind changed, but while returning to port his rear came under attack from the recently returned British inshore squadron. The British attack was reinforced by newly arrived ships from the main fleet, but the French were able to escape into Toulon after exchanging cannon fire with the British. Casualties on both sides were light. More

Thomas Luny (1759–1837)

Blockade of Toulon, 1810-1814: Pellew's action, 5 November 1813, c. 1830

Oil on canvas

85.1 × 128.3 cm (33.5 × 50.5 in)

National Maritime Museum, London , United Kingdom

Thomas Luny (1759–1837), born in Cornwall, was an English artist and painter, mostly of seascapes and other marine-based works. At the age of eleven, Luny left Cornwall to live in London. There he became the apprentice of Francis Holman, a marine painter who would have a great and long lasting artistic influence on Luny.

In September 1777, Luny left Holman's studio for a while, to journey to France. It was around this time that Luny was frequently exhibiting at the Royal Academy, in a total of twenty-nine exhibitions between 1780 and 1802. In Leadenhall Street, Luny became acquainted with a "Mr. Merle", a dealer and framer of paintings who promoted Luny's paintings for over twenty years, to great success. Luny also found a wealthy source of business in Leadenhall Street, where the British East India Company had their headquarters; their officers commissioned many paintings and portraits from Luny. This relationship between the Company and Luny also had several non-monetary benefits for Luny; it seems probable that, considering the great detail and realistic look of many of his sketches of locations such as Naples, Gibraltar, and Charleston, South Carolina, Luny was occasionally invited as a guest on the Company's ships on special occasions and voyages.

Several years later, in 1807, Luny decided to move again, this time to Teignmouth in Devon. There he received a number of commissions, and he continued to be as successful in his work as he had been in London. Luny was by that time suffering with arthritis in both of his hands. This had no obvious impact on the quality or pace of his artistic work. In fact, of his lifetime oeuvre of over 3,000 works, over 2,200 were produced between 1807 and his death. He died on 30 September 1837. More

Thomas Luny (1759–1837)

Bombardment of Algiers by Lord Exmouth in August 1816, c. 1820

Oil on canvas

122 × 183 cm (48 × 72 in)

The Bombardment of Algiers (27 August 1816) was an attempt by Britain to end the slavery practices of the Dey of Algiers. An Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Exmouth bombarded ships and the harbour defences of Algiers.

There was a continuing campaign by various European navies and the American navy to suppress the piracy against Europeans by the North African Barbary states. The specific aim of this expedition, however, was to free Christian slaves and to stop the practice of enslaving Europeans. To this end, it was partially successful, as the Dey of Algiers freed around 3,000 slaves following the bombardment and signed a treaty against the slavery of Europeans. However, this slavery did not end completely until the European conquest of Africa. More

Martinus Schouman (1770–1848)

The bombardment of Algiers, to support the ultimatum for the release of white slaves 26-27 August 1816, c. 1823

Oil on Cloth

95 × 159.5 cm (37.4 × 62.8 in)

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Martinus Schouman (1770– 1848) was a 19th-century painter from the Northern Netherlands. Schouman was born in Dordrecht. According to the RKD he was the pupil and grandnephew of Aert Schouman and the brother of Aert II. His pupils were Pieter Arnout Dijxhoorn, Jan de Greef (1784-1834), Pieter Martinus Gregoor, Matthijs Quispel, Johannes Christiaan Schotel, and his son Izaak Schouman. He is known for marines and landscapes and was a member of the Dordrecht artist's society Pictura and the Royal society of the fine arts in Brussels. He died in Breda. More

Martinus Schouman (1770–1848)

The Dutch and English fleets meet on the way to Boulogne, c. 1805

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

This painting documents the meeting of the British and Dutch fleets during the later stages of Napoleon's planning for his invasion of Britain. 

HAUGHTON FORREST (1826-1925) 
Wreck of Sir Robert Peel, Eliza and Pandora, Tynemouth 1854 
oil on board 
titled and dated verso 
30.5 x 46.5cm 

Extract from Captain Champion's letter to Messrs. Gilchrist and Alexander, the agents for the vessel :

"With feelings of deep regret I have to inform you the ship Sir Robert Peel is on shore, and likely to become a total wreck, at a place called Avoca Bay, as I am informed by a shepherd distant from Sydney Heals about fifty miles north. We have had the weather exceedingly stormy and thick fogs, and when the ship struck by our reckoning we were fifty miles from land and in the latitude of Sydney, so that in two days we have had a current setting to the north upwards of sixty mile's."

The Rose did not arrive from Morpeth, until one p.m. on Thursday. The Tamar having conveyed the intelligence of the Sir Robert Peel being on shore, Captain Pattison put into Broken Bay, and despatched the chief officer to the Customs Station, when Mr. Williams and his boats' crew accompanied them overland to the wreck, a distance of about eight miles. Nothing more had occurred than what had already been reported. and having found that the Thistle had been there they returned, finding that no assistance was required. More

Haughton Forrest (30 December 1826 – 20 January 1925) was an Australian artist. He was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France and subsequently lived in Berkshire, Jamaica and Germany, before obtaining a commission in the Honourable Artillery Company and later the 31st Royal Monmouth Light Infantry. He married in 1858 and moved to Brazil in 1875 before migrating to Tasmania. He held a number of municipal appointments in Sorell, including Superintendent of Police, before moving to Wellington Hamlets, near Hobart in 1881, devoting himself fully to art.

Forrest painted both marine scenes and landscapes. In 1899, his pictures of Mount Wellington and Hobart were included in the first set of pictorial stamps produced in Australia. More

A.V. GREGORY (1867-1957) 

The Monah, Crossing the Bass Strait 1908 

gouache and watercolour on paper 

signed and dated lower right: A.V. GREGORY '08 

30.5 x 53cm

The Bass Strait Triangle is the waters that separate the states of Victoria and Tasmania, including Bass Strait, in south-eastern Australia. The term Bass Strait Triangle (inspired by the Bermuda Triangle) appears to have been first used following the Valentich Disappearance in 1978 although the region had a bad reputation (never ascribed to supernatural forces, however) long before that.

Arthur Victor Gregory  (1867-1957), was an Australian visual artist who was born in 1867. Numerous works by the artist have been sold at auction, including 'Off Point Lonsdale Through the Rip (The Majanka)' sold at Leonard Joel, Melbourne 'European and Australian Art' in 2008. The artist died in 1957. More

A.V. GREGORY (1867-1957) 
The S.S. Laranah 1915 
gouache and watercolour on paper 
signed and dated lower left: A.V. GREGORY 15
30.5 x 53cm

LARANAH 701 gross tons. Lb: 54.9 x 8.6 metres. Steel, single screw cargo ship built as the Island Queen by De Merwede at Hardinxveld for Shipping Investments Co Ltd (C.H.Pile), London, aka British Channel Island Shipping Co. Date of completion: 18 March 1914. Triple expansion engine making 8.5 knots. 1914 Sold to W.Holyman & Sons. Served WW2. Sold 1956 to Panama interests. Fate: hit object & sank 10nm N Lubang Island, South-West of Manilla 8th October 1959 (another source states sank 18 October 1959) More

A.V. GREGORY (1867-1957) 

The Marrawah - Passing Point Lonsdale 1911 

gouache and watercolour on paper 

signed and dated lower left: A. V. GREGORY 11

29 x 52cm

MARRAWAH 600 gross tons. Lb: 179.2' x 29.1' x 11.2' (50.3 x 8.6 metres). Steel steamship, passenger-cargo as built by Van Vliet at Hardinxveld for Shipping Investments Ltd (C H Pile), London. Single screw, triple expansion engine, 87 nhp. 19?? purchased by Holyman & Sons, Launceston. Began a regular service to Naracoopa jetty, King Island 1916. Known definitely December 1920 as trading between Melbourne and Stanley on Tasmania's North-west coast, via King Island in Bass Strait. Sold to Howard Smith in 1936. Serviced Bundaberg - Brisbane transporting sugar. November 1941 requisitioned as a minesweeper in Bass Strait. February 1943 and passed to U S Navy control (small ships). Returned to owners at War's end and laid up. 1947 sold to Riverside Dock & Engineering Co., Sydney. Stripped at Sydney 1950 and made as an Australian miltiary target off Sydney Heads 10th May 1951. More



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