Nicholas Matthew(s) Condy, or Nicholas Condy the Younger, or Junior (1818 – 20 May 1851) was a British
maritime painter.
Life
Birth and education
He was born on 1818 in Dover to
Nicholas Condy (1793–1857) and Ann Trevanion Condy (née Pyle; 1792–1860), but baptised on 6 April 1824 in Plymouth, St Andrew. His father was a
painter of landscapes, and they are often confused with each other. He went to the Mount Radford School in
Exeter and later studied under The Reverend C Thomas of Lew Trenchard. Intended for a career in the
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
or
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
, he instead became a professional
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 ...
.
Artistic career
His work attracted the early admiration of
the Earl of Egremont,
J. M. W. Turner’s patron. Three of his sea-pieces were exhibited at the
Royal Academy from 1842 to 1845, which gave hopes of his becoming a distinguished artist.
Death
He lived in
Plymouth until his sudden and premature death at the Grove, Plymouth, on 20 May 1851
['']The Gentleman's Magazine
''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term '' magazine'' (from the French ''magazine ...
, July to December 1851'', by Sylvanus Urban, John Bower Nichols and Son, London, 1851, p 101. when aged only thirty-two. He left a
widow
A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died.
Terminology
The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...
, Flora Ross, the third daughter of Major John Lockhart Gallie, of the
28th Regiment and a daughter, Harriet Charlotte Florence Pigott Condy (1846–1880) who married the painter
Walter Duncan (1848–1932). After his death Flora married her cousin Samuel Charles Roby.
Style and artistic achievement
Condy used a detailed knowledge of ships acquired in his home town to paint accurate ship portraits, and his native
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
countryside is featured in such paintings as ''Ships off Devonport'' and ''The Post Office Packet Shelldrake off Falmouth'' (both in 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 Unite ...
, London). He was a successful and established artist whose work is still sought after today.
Selected works
File:Condy - Queen Victoria.jpg, ''The Tsar of Russia's Yacht, The Queen Victoria, with other Shipping off the Coast''
File:On board the Yacht Alarm.jpg, ''On board the Yacht Alarm''
File:HMS Black Joke (1827).jpg, '' HMS Black Joke firing on the Spanish Slaver El Almirante''
References
;Attribution
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Condy, Nicholas Matthews
1818 births
1851 deaths
19th-century English painters
English male painters
British marine artists
Artists from Plymouth, Devon
People educated at Mount Radford School
19th-century English male artists