![Carmichael 000](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Carmichael_000.jpg)
James John Wilson Carmichael (9 June 1800 – 1868), also known as John Carmichael was a British
marine painter
Marine art or maritime art is a form of figurative art (that is, painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture) that portrays or draws its main inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea—a genre part ...
.
Life
Carmichael was born at the
Ouseburn
The Ouseburn is a small river in Newcastle upon Tyne, England that flows through the city of Newcastle upon Tyne into the River Tyne. It gives its name to the Ouseburn Valley and the Ouseburn electoral ward for Newcastle City Council elections ...
, in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
,
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
, on 9 June 1800, the son of William Carmichael, a ship's carpenter. He went to sea at an early age, and spent three years on board a vessel sailing between ports in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. On his return, he was apprenticed to a shipbuilding firm. After completing his apprenticeship, he devoted all his spare time to art, and eventually gave up the carpentry business, setting himself up as a drawing-master and
miniature
A miniature is a small-scale reproduction, or a small version. It may refer to:
* Portrait miniature, a miniature portrait painting
* Miniature art, miniature painting, engraving and sculpture
* Miniature (chess), a masterful chess game or probl ...
painter. His first historical painting to attract public notice was the ''Fight Between the Shannon and Chesapeake'', which sold for 13
guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...
(£13.65). He then painted ''The Bombardment of Algiers'' for
Trinity House
"Three In One"
, formation =
, founding_location = Deptford, London, England
, status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity
, purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons
, he ...
, Newcastle, for which he received 40 guineas;
[ it is still at Trinity House, along with ''The Heroic Exploits of Admiral Lord Collingwood in HMS "Excellent" at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent'', painted in collaboration with ]George Balmer
George Balmer (c. 1806 - 10 April 1846) was an English landscape and marine painter and illustrator.
Life and work
Balmer was born in North Shields, Northumberland, the son of a house painter. He initially followed his father's trade, but eventu ...
. Another important early commission was for a ''View of Newcastle'' for which the city corporation paid him 100 guineas. During the redevelopment of the centre of Newcastle, Carmichael worked with the architect John Dobson to produce some joint works, including paintings with designs for the Central Station and the Grainger Market. He also collaborated with John Blackmore to produce an illustrated book: ''Views on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway'' in 1836.
His name first appears as an exhibitor in 1838, when he contributed an oil painting, ''Shipping in the Bay of Naples'', to the Society of British Artists
The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy.
History
The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...
. He showed both oil paintings and watercolours at the Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
, his contributions including ''The Conqueror towing the Africa off the Shoals of Trafalgar'' (1841) and ''The Arrival of the Royal Squadron'' (1843).[
He lived in Newcastle until about 1845, when he moved to ]London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where he was already known as a skilful marine painter.[ In 1855, during the ]Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
he was sent to the Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
to make drawings for ''The Illustrated London News
''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...
''. His painting of the bombardment of Sveaborg
The Battle of Suomenlinna (also known as the Battle of Viapori or the Bombardment of Sweaborg) was fought on 9–11 August 1855 between Russian defenders and a joint British/ French fleet during the Åland War. It was a part of the Crimean War.
...
, which he witnessed during this assignment, was exhibited at the Royal Academy and is now in the collection of the National Maritime Museum.
He later moved to Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
, where he died in 1868.
He published ''The Art of Marine Painting in Water-Colours'' in 1859, and ''The Art of Marine Painting in Oil-Colours'' in 1864.
His daughter Annie married William Luson Thomas
William Luson Thomas (London 4 December 1830–1900) was a British wood-engraver and the founder of various British newspapers.
Biography
Thomas worked as a wood-engraver in Paris and was also an assistant to the British wood-engraver William J ...
son of a shipbroker and a successful artist who, exasperated by the treatment of artists by the ''Illustrated London News'', founded in 1869 ''The Graphic
''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Ltd. Thomas's brother Lewis Samuel Thomas was a co-founder. The premature death of the latt ...
'' newspaper which had immense influence within the art world.
File:Cullercoats_from_the_South_by_John_Wilson_Carmichael.jpg, ''Cullercoats
Cullercoats is a coastal settlement in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, North East England. Historically in Northumberland, it has now been absorbed into the wider Tyneside conurbation, sitting between Tynemouth to the ...
from the South'', 1845, private collection
File:HMS_Erebus_and_Terror_in_the_Antarctic_by_John_Wilson_Carmichael.jpg, ''HMS Erebus
In Greek mythology, Erebus (; grc, Ἔρεβος, Érebos, "deep darkness, shadow".), or Erebos, is the personification of darkness and one of the primordial deities. Hesiod's ''Theogony'' identifies him as one of the first five beings in exis ...
and Terror in the Antarctic'', 1847, now at the National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...
File:The_Irwin_Lighthouse,_Storm_Raging_by_John_Wilson_Carmichael.jpg, ''The Irwin Lighthouse, Storm Raging'', 1851, private collection
File:The_Bombardment_of_Sveaborg,_9_August_1855_by_John_Wilson_Carmichael.jpg, '' The Bombardment of Sveaborg, 9 August 1855'', 1855, now at the National Maritime Museum
File:Off_the_Dutch_Coast_by_John_Wilson_Carmichael.jpg, ''Off the Dutch Coast'', 1858, now at the Willow Gallery, London
References
Sources
*
External links
*
*
Biography
from the National Maritime Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carmichael, James Wilson
1800 births
1868 deaths
19th-century English painters
Artists from Newcastle upon Tyne
English male painters
British marine artists
19th-century English male artists