John Ward (1798–1849)Harbron, Dudley
''John Ward, Painter (1798–1849)''
''Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs'', October 1941, p. 130. was an English painter from

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

, Yorkshire. He has been described as "the leading marine artist and ship portrait painter in Hull during the first half of the 19th century"."Oil painting may have been stolen from museum to order"
''

Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'', 8 July 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2013.

Biography

John Ward was born on 28 December 1798, a son of a master mariner, Abraham Ward, also a painter and his wife Sarah (née Clark). John received an education and was apprenticed as a house painter to Thomas Meggitt. By 1826, Ward was listed in the local Hull Directory as a "House and Ship Painter". Ward married Esther Leonard (born 1800 in Solihull, Warwickshire) on 18 April 1825 in Holy Trinity Church, Hull. They had four daughters. He was initiated as a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. He was influenced by the artist

William Anderson William Anderson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Anderson (artist) (1757–1837), painter of marine and historical paintings * William Anderson (theatre) (1868–1940), Australian stage entrepreneur * William Anderson (1911–1986), ...

. copying some of them before establishing his own style. Ward exhibited several paintings in 1827 at the Hull and East Riding Institute for the Promotion of the Fine Arts. He subsequently produced small

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 ...

paintings and some larger

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

s, of local maritime and shipping scenes. He also exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1840 and 1847 and at the British Institution between 1843 and 1847. He made many engravings of his own works. Ward died on 28 September 1849 from cholera. It was not until 1883 that his importance was recognized when the local press briefly described his life. Many of his works are now in public collections, including the

Ferens Art Gallery The Ferens Art Gallery is an art gallery in the English city of Kingston upon Hull. The site and money for the gallery were donated to the city by Thomas Ferens, after whom it is named. The architects were S. N. Cooke and E. C. Davie ...

Hull Maritime Museum The Hull Maritime Museum is a museum in Kingston upon Hull, England, that explores the seafaring heritage of the city and its environs. The museum's stated mission is "To preserve and make available the maritime history of Hull and east Yorkshi ...

and

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

, Washington, D.C.. In 1981 an exhibition of his works was held at the Ferens Art Gallery to coincide with the opening of the Humber Bridge.

Gallery

File:John Ward of Hull - Stoneferry.jpg, "

Stoneferry Stoneferry (''archaic'' Stone-Ferry, or Stone ferry) is a suburb of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was formerly a small hamlet on the east bank of the River Hull, the site of a ferry, and, after 1905, a bridge. The are ...

", oil on panel File:John Ward of Hull - H.M.S. Britannia at Anchor with the Fleet.jpg, " H.M.S. ''Britannia'' at Anchor with the Fleet", oil on canvas File:Ward-of-hull fishery.jpg, "'The Northern Whale Fishery - The ''Swan'' and ''Isabella''", oil on canvas, c. 1840 File:John Ward of Hull - A trading cutter shortening sail as members of her crew carry a mooring rope to a wooden dolphin nearby.jpg, "A trading cutter shortening sail as members of her crew carry a mooring rope to a wooden dolphin nearby", pen, Indian ink and watercolour

2009 art theft

In June 2009, one of Ward's paintings, "Schooners Ellen Crawford and Dwina" (1843), was stolen from Hull Maritime Museum. The painting, worth £10,000, was recovered three months later after being found hanging on the thief's

dining room A dining room is a room (architecture), room for eating, consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically ...

wall; he had stolen the painting as a present for his artist wife."£10,000 painting found on thief's wall"
, ''Hull Daily Mail'', 13 February 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2013. At his trial, the

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...

judge described the painting as "part of the heritage of the city of Hull, building on its reputation and art links with the maritime world".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, John 19th-century English painters English male painters Artists from Kingston upon Hull 1798 births 1849 deaths 19th-century English male artists