All At Sea Part 2
#SUBHEADING#John Ward#SUBHEADINGEND# One of the most famous and outstanding painters to emerge from the simple background of vessel portraits was John Ward. Ward was the son of a master mariner and was influenced by paintings that he obtained by the Scottish born artist William Anderson. Under this influence Ward's paintings depicted the hustle and bustle of Hull's river, harbour and docks. He created a unity in his compositions where the foreground and the background are given equal importance and all of which are bathed in a subdued light. He also painted whaling scenes with remarkable serenity. Probably his best and most memorable painting is 'The Return of the William Lee' which illustrates the end of the whaling period in Hull and an era in Hull's economic history. Ward died in 1849 but his influence was still visible in the work of his imitators and pupils until almost the end of the century, notably in the works by William Griffin, Thomas Binks and W.F. Settle. #SUBHEADING#End of a Century and a New Beginning#SUBHEADINGEND# As the century progressed artists developed a more romantic outlook and storms, sunsets and shipwrecks grew in popularity, replacing the need to represent ships with such accuracy. Depictions of plucky vessels and last minute rescues like 'The Lame Duck' by Thomas Somerscales also became popular; typifying the British imperial superiority that would later suffer a massive blow during the Great War. During the Second World War artists such as Eric Ravilious took to the sea under the Government's Official War Artists scheme where they recorded the troops, the devastation and the battles on land and sea. Most of the work is quickly sketched with pencil, crayon or watercolour making for portable and rapid sketching. Ferens holds a large collection of work from this period. Mainly on paper, they also testify to the importance of the sea through boatbuilding, dock scenes and naval bases. #SUBHEADING#Post War Marine Art#SUBHEADINGEND# In the post war period artists have continued to take the sea as their inspiration and within the Ferens' collection it is possible to trace through these works some of the radical changes in style since the 1950s. Some artists such as Michael Ayrton, Donald Hamilton Fraser and Keith Vaughan have expressed responses to the sea in abstract form whilst others like, Will MacLean and George Fullard use objects associated with or taken directly form the sea. In contrast the traditional approach to marine painting can still be found in the work of David Curtis. #SUBHEADING#Ferens Art Gallery and Marine Paintings#SUBHEADINGEND# It was not until the appointment of Vincent Galloway as curator of the Ferens Art Gallery in 1928 that attention turned to the acquisition of marine paintings, and of works by artists of the Hull school in particular. Until then, marines were greatly undervalued and acquired by museums only for their maritime or social history interest. The first John Ward painting was acquired in 1936 for ten guineas. Since that time the Ferens has developed its collection of marine art into one that traces many of the most significant developments in European marine painting from the 17th century to the present day.
All At Sea Part 1
Discover the history behind Ferens' marine paintings; from Dutch influences to the depiction of the whaling industry.
History of the Ferens Art Gallery (part 1)
At the turn of the twentieth century Hull's art collections were housed in variety of locations. Thomas Robinson Ferens decided that a purpose built art gallery should be constructed and so work began on the Ferens Art gallery in 1926.
History of the Ferens Art Gallery (part 2)
The Ferens Art gallery was completed in eighteen months and opened in 1927. Read about the changes and develpments the gallery has been through from its opening to the present day.
Early 20th Century British Art - The Rise of Modernism
The period of British Art dating from the turn of the 20th century, marked the rise of modernism in response to the influences of French Impressionism and reaction against the Art establishment in the form of the Salon in Paris and the Royal Academy in London. This gave rise to the various movements into which impressionism divided through the works of Cezanne, Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh, Gauguin. It also led to the recognition of 'Post-Impressionism' and the ideas and methods of European modernism from Fauvism to Cubism.
Early 20th Century British Art - Artists Groups
From the creation of 'Post-Impressionism' by Roger Fry in London, further groups began to form around the studios of particular artists, following the example of the leading independent artists in France. It is from this point that London began to contribute to the direction and development of modernism on an equal footing with Paris, with radical artists moving easily between both cities.
Early 20th Century British Art - Between the Wars
After the devastation of WWI, radical movements in art had retreated to more conservative forms that celebrated the local and familiar, representing a national character in relation to European art movements. However, some developments were completely original responses to the art that had gone before and an attempt to encompass the state of the natural and human world as it appeared to British artists of the time. This led to new forms of visual expression that represented the cutting edge of the Art World at the outbreak of WWII.
Hull and the Whaling Industry
At its height Hull could boast one of the largest and most successful whaling fleets in Britain. Discover how it all began, how the whalers' braved arctic conditions to catch their whales and how the introduction of steam powered vessels signalled a decline for the Hull whaler.
