Kernow-Maritime-Fine-Art Ebay shop for renowned 19th Century Marine Artists

Over the past year I have started to collect Maritime Art from various places (including auction houses) and have opened up an Ebay shop to display what I have available.

The weblink is:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/kernow-maritime-fine-art?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2754

It has been a very interesting learning curve for me as I decided very early on to focus on well known and respected artists that command good prices and are likely to become more and more collectable over time. I have bought paintings that have been poorly framed and reframed them as well as adding new borders when these help the painting. The idea of the shop is to pass on my knowledge and research behind each painting and open them and the artists to a broader worldwide audience. In turn each customer can expect a well sourced painting with provenance, that will continue to increase in value over time.

I have mainly focused on watercolours as from a previous blog post I have always been interested in their technique and it is an affordable way for art enthusiasts to collect paintings. I have also generally stuck to 19th Century maritime artists as this is where my interests are. Some of these include: Edward Duncan (RSW), Clarkson Stanfield (RA), Copley Fielding (RSW), Montague Dawson (signed large prints), Thomas Bush Hardy (RBA), George Stanfield Walters (RBA), and Henry Barlow Carter. This list is continually changing as I sell paintings and add newly sourced ones and I am hoping to expand much further.

To give an insight into some of the paintings available below are some photos. If you have any questions about my Ebay shop please reply to this blog or message me on my Ebay account. This could be about particular paintings or artists. Also if you like a particular artist which I am not selling I can look into sourcing a painting for you. Keep checking the Ebay page as there will always be new paintings. Lastly, if it is interesting I may look in more depth at some of the paintings I am selling as well as the artists. I will return to normal blog posts next time. For now I hope some people have had a chance to go to the Turner Exhibition at the Tate!

Figure 1. Copley Fielding, 'Sailing on the English Coast', watercolour, 20 x 30cm.

Figure 2. George Stanfield Walters, 'Timber discharging in Southampton habour', watercolour, 23.5 x 40cm.

Figure 3. Montague Dawson, 'The Action between Java and the Constitution December 1812', signed limited edition print,  51 x 76cm.

Figure 4. Henry Barlow Carter, 'Fingal's Cave off Staffa's Island', 1846, watercolour, 31.5 x 44.5 cm.

JMW Turner and the link to Impressionism and Monet

Firstly, I will be back to doing regular blog posts on Maritime art and there is plenty to catch up on! I have been doing a lot of research and have read a lot since June so there should be some new and interesting insights which I will use.

In July I was in Paris for the first time and this was incredibly exciting as I managed to visit the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay and Versailles. I was particularly struck in my visit to the d'Orsay of the impressionists views of the sea and how they portrayed this. I have always been interested in Claude Monet (1840-1926) and was lucky to view a major exhibition of his in Wellington (New Zealand) in 2009. This time however, it was mainly his seascapes that drew me in, such as figure 1 which is a view of the Houses of Parliament. I had never considered how close JMW Turner was to the impressionists until this visit. Turner's famous painting 'Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth' (figure 2) helps to show this. Both artists make the water warp into the sky and the surroundings. For Monet the focus is on light with the sun reflecting on the Thames and the same can be said of Turner and the use of light around the steam boat in the storm. Although clearly differing in style the similarities are quite striking.

Figure 1. Claude Monet 'Londres, le Parlement. Trouée de soleil dans le brouillard en 1904', Oil-on-Canvas, 81.5 x 92.5cm, Musée d'Orsay

Figure 2. JMW Turner 'Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth' (1842), Oil-on-Canvas, 91.4 x 121.9cm, Tate.

Towards the end of Turner's career his work did become more detached from his earlier more traditional artwork. The use of colour and light became the centrepiece of each painting. There is a new exhibition at the Tate called 'Late Turner: Painting set free' and this explores Turner's change of style in depth. I haven't had a chance to go to it yet but cannot wait for the opportunity.

To finish this blog I will leave a final seascape of Monet's that caught my attention at the d'Orsay called 'Les barques. Régates à Argenteuil' (figure 3). The light is very captivating and you can imagine yourself on one of the sailing boats. Although the water is not as realistic as other maritime artists I have previously looked at (such as Stanfield, Pocock and Serres) it still is a scene you can imagine being part of. I will explore this link again in the future as the link is clearly the use of light on the water which the great maritime artists have always used. I would be interested to hear other views on this area and whether you agree with my idea of Turner being a link to Monet.

Figure 3. Claude Monet 'Les barques. Régates à Argenteuil' (1874), Oil-on-Canvas,  60.5 x 100.5cm, Musée d'Orsay.