Dominic Serres

Dominic Serres ( 4 November 1793) was a French-born British painter who specialised in marine art. He co-founded the Royal Academy (RA) in 1768, and served as the RA's librarian from 1792 until his death.

Life and works

He was born in Auch, Gascony, in southwestern France, between 1719 and 1723. Some sources say he died at the age of 74, but this is not confirmed. He initially studied to become a priest at the Benedictine seminary in Douai, but then left and moved to Spain. He is said to have become a merchant sailor in the Mediterranean and to have lived in Italy. He also worked as a sailor in South America, became a merchant captain in Cuba, and lived for several years as a merchant in Havana, in 1752. During his imprisonment in the Marshalsea prison he took up painting, and after his release he lived for a time in Northamptonshire, where he made his living by painting marine scenes. He copied the works of Willem van de Velde the Elder, a Dutch marine painter, very popular at the time in England. He then moved to London, where he is believed to have learned his techniques from the marine painter Charles Brooking (c. 1723–1759). If Serres did not settle in London until 1758, however, he could not have studied for long under Brooking, since he was buried on 25 March 1759.

During the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the exploits of the British fleet in battles such as the Siege of Havana, in 1762, where the British inflicted significant damage on the Spanish Navy, and the Battle of Chandernagar, led to an increase of popularity of naval paintings depicting these battles, and Serres' work on that matter met British popular tastes. Working for a publisher documenting the events of the Seven Years' War, he painted a series of depictions, including the capture of Havana. He also painted events in the American Revolutionary War, such as the disastrous Penobscot Expedition launched by the Americans in 1779.

He participated at the exhibitions held by the Society of Artists of Great Britain, founded in the early 1760s, and became a member in 1765. The Royal Academy of Arts was founded in 1768, and he was elected as a founding member.

In 1780, he was appointed Marine Painter to King George III. He was appointed librarian at the Royal Academy, but died shortly after, in London, in 1793. Serres was buried at St. Marylebone Old Church.

Family

Serres married Mary Colldycutt, aged 18 years old, on 16 July 1749. They were married in what was known as a 'Fleet wedding', a less expensive and less formal form of marriage that was possible without affiliation to a particular parish and was common in the area around Fleet Prison at the time. The couple had four daughters, Catherine, Augusta Charlotte, Johanna and Sarah, and two sons, the elder of whom, John Thomas Serres, also became a prolific marine painter. Dominique Michael, the younger, was also a painter but specialised in depicting landscapes.Alan Russett, ''Dominic Serres, War Artist to the Navy'', Woodbridge, Antique Collectors' Club, 2001

Gallery

File:The Piazza at Havana RMG BHC0418.tiff, '' The Piazza at Havana'' (1762)
File:Princess Charlotte Arriving at Harwich, September 1761 RMG BHC0405.tiff, '' Princess Charlotte Arriving at Harwich'' (1763)
File:Dominic Serres (1722-1793) - British Attack on the Citadel of Martinique, January 1762 - 515562 - National Trust.jpg, ''British Attack on the Citadel of Martinique'' (1767)
File:Dominic Serres (1722-1793) - French Fire-Ships Attacking the English Fleet off Quebec, 28 June 1759 - BHC0392 - Royal Museums Greenwich.jpg, ''French Fire-Ships Attacking the English Fleet off Quebec'', 1767
File:Dominic Serres the Elder - The Captured Spanish Fleet at Havana, August-September 1762.jpg, '' The Captured Spanish Fleet at Havana'', 1768
File:The Capture of Havana, 1762- Storming of Morro Castle, 30 July RMG L6229.tiff, ''The Storming of Morro Castle'', 1770
File:Dominic Serres the Elder (1722-93) - The Royal Visit to the Fleet - RCIN 404558 - Royal Collection.jpg, ''The Royal Visit to the Fleet'' (1774)
Image:The Battle of Quiberon Bay.jpg, '' The Battle of Quiberon Bay'', (1779)
Image:PenobscotExpeditionBySerres.jpg, '' Destruction of the American Fleet at Penobscot Bay'' (1779)
File:The Moonlight Battle- the Battle off Cape St Vincent, 16 January 1780 RMG BHC0430.jpg, '' The Moonlight Battle'' (1781)
File:Gibraltar Relieved By Sir George Rodney.jpg, '' Gibraltar Relieved By Sir George Rodney'', (c.1782)
File:Dominic Serres - Foudroyant and Pégase entering Portsmouth Harbour, 1782 - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Foudroyant and Pégase entering Portsmouth Harbour'' (1782)
File:Halifax1762ByDominicSerres.jpg, Halifax, Nova Scotia
File:Halifaxc1762byDominicSerres.jpg, Halifax, Nova Scotia
File:British fleet entering Havana.jpg, Battle of Havana (1762)
File:Halifax1777ByDominicSerres.jpg, Halifax, Nova Scotia
File:Dominic Serres - Saint Vincents, near West Malling, Kent - Google Art Project.jpg, Saint Vincents, near West Malling, Kent
File:Dominic Serres - An English Two-Decker Lying Hove to, with Other Ships and Vessels in a Fresh Breeze - Google Art Project.jpg, The Lying Hove

File:Dominic Serres the Elder - The Cathedral at Havana, August-September 1762.jpg, Painting of the Basilica of San Francisco de Asís, Havana in 1770 by Dominic Serres.

References

*

Further reading

*Russett, Alan. ''Dominic Serres 1719 - 1793: War Artist to the Navy'' (Antiques Collectors Club, 2001).

External links

*
Dominic Serres online
(ArtCyclopedia)
Dominic Serres
(Biography and works at the Royal Academy of Arts, London).
Serres biography and works
( National Maritime Museum, London)
Serres ancestry
("rootsweb")
An English man-o'war shortening sail entering Portsmouth harbour
(painting – exhibited in 1778)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serres, Dominic
1722 births
1793 deaths
18th-century French painters
French male painters
French marine artists
Royal Academicians
18th-century French male artists