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Francis (Frank) Watson Wood (1862–1953) commenced his career as a 
The son of Robert and Ann, who resided in the High Street of 
During the 1930s Frank Wood had developed his craft so well that he was freely allowed to watch and paint some of the most well known and majestic ships in the British fleet at that time for example 
World War Two
During World War Two, Wood created also paintings to commemorate some of the major events of the war that had a naval component for example The Epic of Dunkirk and The Battle of The River Plate.
Legacy and death
Frank Wood was a talented painter of British Royal Navy warships and landscapes. With the resurgence of interest in naval pictures in the 1990s, his paintings became and still are highly sought after at auction. His attention to detail and ability to capture the spirit of a ship at sea of in port make his paintings unique - this was no doubt partly due to his own naval service. His final years were spent in Perthshire and he died at Dochfour, Strathyre in 1953 at the age of 91. Many of his paintings are in private collections and others can be found in The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
Other works include:
*
The Bermuda paintings
at bermuda-online.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Frank W 1862 births 1953 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
officer, and was described in 1907 as "naval artist, Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
". He went on to become an internationally regarded watercolorist.
Early Life
The son of Robert and Ann, who resided in the High Street of Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...
, Frank Wood was initially apprenticed to a Grocer but, having convinced his parents of his talent, soon moved to study at the Berwick School of Art. Soon after he moved to Kensington to study at the South Kensington Art School (later The Royal College of Art) and in 1886, moved to the Newcastle School of Art where he served as Second Master. After a period as Headmaster of the White School of Art, he decided to become a professional artist in 1899 and moved to Portsmouth in 1906 to focus on painting ships. Moving amongst the officers of the fleet, in August 1903 he sold King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
a watercolour
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
which he hung in the Royal Yacht
A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often c ...
. Queen Alexandra
Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King ...
purchased at the same time a further three pictures, all associated with views taken during Cowes Regatta week. In November 1907 the Queen again purchased from him two large watercolours.''The Berwickshire News'' November 29, 2007, "Looking Back", p.13 These two sales set his artistic career in motion and he developed into one of the most prolific and talented marine artists of the 20th century.
Landscapes and buildings
In addition to his main passion of warships, Wood was also a keen painter of landscapes and buildings in and around Berwick Upon Tweed. During his life he often returned to paint scenes and places familiar to his youth and his paintings were always meticulously detailed.
Marine Painting at Portsmouth
Much of Woods early work came from serving or retiring officers who commissioned paintings of their ships - or ships that they had served in. These paintings form the bulk of Woods work and provide valuable images of some of the more obscure ships of that period.
Alongside William Wyllie, Wood was invited to join the Grand Fleet Flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth and tour the surrendered German High Seas fleet at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009
Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...
in 1918.
Wood was in Bermuda
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in 1929 and 1931, and painted Admiralty House (since demolished) and Admiralty Cove, in those days the Headquarters of the America & West Indies Squadron (established 1 July 1927).
During the 1930s Frank Wood had developed his craft so well that he was freely allowed to watch and paint some of the most well known and majestic ships in the British fleet at that time for example HMS Hood
HMS ''Hood'' ( pennant number 51) was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy (RN). ''Hood'' was the first of the planned four s to be built during the First World War. Already under construction when the Battle of Jutland occurred in mid-1916, tha ...
, HMS Barham
Three warships of the Royal Navy have been given the name HMS ''Barham'' in honour of Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham. A fourth was planned but never completed:
* was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line launched in 1811. She was reduced to ...
and HMS Royal Oak
Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Royal Oak'', after the Royal Oak in which Charles II hid himself during his flight from the country in the English Civil War:
* was a 76-gun second rate launched in 1664 and burnt by the Dutch ...
.
World War Two
During World War Two, Wood created also paintings to commemorate some of the major events of the war that had a naval component for example The Epic of Dunkirk and The Battle of The River Plate.
Legacy and death
Frank Wood was a talented painter of British Royal Navy warships and landscapes. With the resurgence of interest in naval pictures in the 1990s, his paintings became and still are highly sought after at auction. His attention to detail and ability to capture the spirit of a ship at sea of in port make his paintings unique - this was no doubt partly due to his own naval service. His final years were spent in Perthshire and he died at Dochfour, Strathyre in 1953 at the age of 91. Many of his paintings are in private collections and others can be found in The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
Other works include:
* Cowes
Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...
* Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
from The Braids
* Linlithgow Palace
The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are located in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although mai ...
* Springtime on the River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the R ...
* Mordington House (1932)
* A View of Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...
* Topography of Berwick
* Gullane
Gullane ( or ) is a town on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian on the east coast of Scotland. There has been a church in the village since the ninth century. The ruins of the Old Church of St. Andrew built in the twelft ...
(1933)
*HMS Lion (1930)
*The epic of Dunkirk (1940)
*HMS Hood (1920)
*HMS Hood (1938)
*HMS Edinburgh (1906)
*HMS Revenge (1918)
*HMS King Edward VII and The Channel Fleet (1908)
*HMS Sylvia (1904)
*Review of the fleet off Torbay (1922)
*French Warship Dakar (1940)
*Graf Spee and the Battle of the River Plate (1939)
*HMS Royal Oak leaving Plymouth
*HMS Karakatta (1906)
*Dreadnought, Portsmouth Harbour(1910)
*Paddle tug & Fishing boats (1900)
*The Hamoaze (1935)
*HMS Emperor of India at Scapa Flow (1918)
*Britannia Royal Naval College (1928)
*HMS Tiger (1919)
*1st Cruiser Squadron (1918)
References
External links
The Bermuda paintings
at bermuda-online.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Frank W 1862 births 1953 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists