Richard Henry Nibbs (1816–1893) was an English painter and book illustrator who specialised in

marine art Marine art or maritime art is a form of figurative art (that is, painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture) that portrays or draws its main Sea in culture, inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea� ...

. Nibbs was born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

(now

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

), England and educated at a school in Worthing (run by the father of watercolourist

Henry Tidey Henry Tidey (7 January 1814 – 21 July 1872) was a British watercolourist. Life The younger brother of Alfred Tidey, he was born at Worthing House, Worthing, on 7 January 1814. Like his brother, he was taught drawing in his father John Tidey' ...

). He lived in Brighton throughout his life. Nibbs initially trained as a musician and became a professional cellist with the Theatre Royal orchestra. However, a lifelong love of art combined with a natural talent for detailed observation led him to become a self-taught painter - in both oils and watercolour - particularly of marine subjects. In 1840 a substantial inheritance allowed him to devote himself full-time to art. His marine art depicts scenes mainly off the coast of his native Sussex, France and Holland - though he also drew buildings and landscapes. He exhibited regularly 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 ...

, the

British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...

and the

Royal 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 ...

Selected works

Paintings: *Low Water: Newhaven Harbour, Sussex . *HMS Vengeance at Spithead (1851). *Queen Victoria landing at the Chain Pier, Brighton (1843). *Brighton promenade, 1850. *Shipping on the Thames. *Shoreham. *Philadelphia Harbour. Illustrated books: *Lower, Mark Anthony. ''The Churches of Sussex: With Historical and Archaeological Descriptions'' (1872) *Nibbs, R. H. ''Antiquities of Sussex'' (1872)

Selected works

References

External links