CALVERT, FREDERICK (Irish, 1793-1852) "Shipping Off Whitby," ca. 1830. Signed, L.L. Oil on canvas, 11˝" x 15" (sight); 14" x 18" (framed). Price Category: C.

Frederick Calvert was an Irish artist born in Cork in 1793. Although better known for his small coastal shipping scenes, in the early part of his career he concentrated on landscape painting. His first exhibited work was a View near Rathfarnham in the 1812 exhibition of the Society of Artists of Ireland in Dublin. In 1815 he showed two views of Dublin at the Hibernian Society of Artists, and in 1821 two views of County Wicklow at the Exhibition of Works by Old Masters, Artists and Amateurs at Limerick. It was not until the 1837 Belfast Association of Artists exhibition that he showed two marine scenes. A number of his works were engraved, and four drawings of Tintern Abbey were published in 1814. He also contributed illustrations of antiquities to the Archeological Journal, as well as Lessons on Landscape and other illustrated works. His watercolors are as well known as his paintings. In 1827 Calvert moved to London and soon turned exclusively to marine painting. Between 1833 and 1844 he exhibited four marine oil paintings at the Royal Society of British Artists at Suffolk Street, and in 1834 two marine watercolors at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin. He died in Suffolk in 1852. Denys Brook-Hart writes of Calvert: "This artist, who has become appreciated only in recent years, has a delicate style combined with an obvious knowledge of ships and the sea. His technique and use of colours are distinctive and quite original, although the Dutch tradition of sea painting can be seen in most of his works. . . .[He] was able to deal with a mass of shipping in a choppy sea without becoming either ponderous or chaotic-indeed the lightness of his touch produced pictures of remarkable movement." A typical Calvert marine painting depicts rough, dangerous seas and skies full of billowing clouds made more dramatic by contrasting areas of bright blue. This example, showing the romantic ruin of Whitby Abbey on the headland in the distance, as boats beat against a roiling sea, is representative of his best work. It is presented in a beautiful, delicately carved period frame. Provenance: St. Luke's Gallery, Washington, D.C. Museums: Ashmolean British Museum Chelsea Library National Maritime Museum, Greenwich London Port Authority Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool Victoria and Albert Museum References: E. H. H. Archibald, The Dictionary of Sea Painters of Europe and America (Antique Collectors Club: Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2000). E. Bénézit, Dictionary of Artists (Gründ: Paris, 2006). Dorothy Brewington, Dictionary of Marine Artists (Peabody Museum: Salem, 1982). Denys Brook-Hart, British 19th Century Marine Painting (Antique Collectors Club: Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1974). Stanley W. Fisher, A Dictionary of Watercolour Painters, 1750-1900 (W. Foulsham & Co.: London, n.d.). Colonel Maurice Harold Grant, A Dictionary of British Landscape Painters (F. Lewis: Leigh-on- Sea, 1952). Jane Johnson, ed. Works Exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists, 1824-1893. Huon Mallalieu, The Dictionary of British Watercolour Artists up to 1920 (Antique Collectors Club: Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2002). N. R. Omell, Exhibition of Marine Paintings of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Gallery Catalog, London, 1997). Walter Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists (Maunsel & Co.: Dublin, 1913). George C. Williamson, ed., Bryan's dictionary of Painters and Engravers (G. Bell & Sons: London, 1930). Arnold Wilson, A Dictionary of British Marine Painters (F. Lewis: Leigh-on-Sea, n.d.). Christopher Wood, The Dictionary of Victorian Painters, 2nd Edition (Antique Collectors Club: Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1978).

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