Thomas Davidson RA (17 January 1842 – November 1919) was an English painter specialising in historical naval scenes.

Life

Davidson was born on 17 January 1842 in

St George Hanover Square St George Hanover Square was a civil parish created in 1724 in the Liberty of Westminster, Middlesex, which was later part of the metropolitan area of London, England. The creation of the parish accompanied the building of St George's, Hanove ...

, London, England. He lost his hearing at age four, whereupon he was sent as a private pupil to the

Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæceli ...

Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, and subsequently attended a "hearing" school in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

. Showing a flair for art, Davidson was admitted to the National Art Training School,

Marlborough House Marlborough House, a Grade I listed mansion in St James's, City of Westminster, London, is the headquarters of the Commonwealth of Nations and the seat of the Commonwealth Secretariat. It was built in 1711 for Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marl ...

(later the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

); he went on to study under

Francis Stephen Cary Francis Stephen Cary (10 May 1808 – 6 January 1880) was an English painter and art teacher, who succeeded Henry Sass as the head of his art academy. Among Cary's subjects was a portrait of Charles and Mary Lamb. Life and work Cary was born in ...

(1808-1880),

James Mathews Leigh James Mathews Leigh (1808 – 20 April 1860) was an English art educator, painter, writer, dramatist and critic. He is best known as the founder of a popular private art school in London known as "Leigh's Academy", which eventually became t ...

(1808-1860), and Alexander Johnston (1815-1891), before spending ten years 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 ...

, where he won the academy's silver medals. In 1871, Davidson married artist Charlotte Douglas McHeath (1851-1930) in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

; records show that in 1881 they were living with their six children at 82 Park Road,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, and in 1901 at 101 Greencroft Gardens, Hampstead. Davidson retired in 1908 to Mill Field,

Walberswick Walberswick is a village and civil parish on the Suffolk coast in England. It is at the mouth of the River Blyth on the south side of the river. The town of Southwold lies to the north of the river and is the nearest town to Walberswick, around ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, where he died aged 77 in November 1919. The artist was closely associated with St Saviour's Church, being part of the Deaf and Dumb Debating Society and on the Committee of the Charitable and Provident Society for the Deaf and Dumb. St Saviour's was located then on

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

, London; the Oxford Street site is now a sports shop opposite

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge ...

on the corner of Lumley Street. Davidson's approach to persevering with

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...

in a not universally compassionate age made him an erudite man. A 1917 book titled ''Peeps into the Deaf World'' records him as saying: "I am a great reader, and have read history, biography, books on travel, religion, and novels, besides the daily newspapers, and it is a great comfort – this reading – to one who is deaf, and to whom little is said." His friends included Samuel Bright Lucas, son of

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

Margaret Bright Lucas Margaret Bright Lucas (14 July 1818 – 4 February 1890) was a British temperance activist and suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although th ...

and nephew of MP

John Bright John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889) was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies. A Quaker, Bright is most famous for battling the Corn Laws ...

, and

wood engraver Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image or ''matrix'' of images into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and pr ...

Charles Webb Moore, who was part of

Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator, and designer. Brangwyn was an artistic jack-of-all-trades. As well as paintings and drawings, he produced des ...

's circle and responsible for Davidson's portrait. He was the father of artist Allan Douglas Davidson (1873-1932).

Work

Davidson specialised in historical naval scenes. For periods his painting focused on particular themes; for example, he completed between 1894 and 1899 a series relating to

Lord Nelson Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British people, British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strate ...

, including the referential ''England's Pride and Glory'' (1894) which incorporates remarkable reproductions of three Nelson-related works by other painters. The large painting to the left is

George Arnald George Arnald (1763 – 21 November 1841) was a British painter who specialised in landscapes, including topographical views to illustrated county histories. He is best known for his celebrated painting depicting the Battle of the Nile. Biog ...

's ''The Destruction of '

L'Orient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

' at the

Battle of the Nile The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; french: Bataille d'Aboukir) was a major naval battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the Navy of the French Republic at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast off the ...

, 1 August 1798''; at the upper-right is

Richard Westall Richard Westall (2 January 1765 – 4 December 1836) was an English painter and illustrator of portraits, historical and literary events, best known for his portraits of Byron. He was also Queen Victoria's drawing master. Biography We ...

's ''Nelson in conflict with a Spanish launch, 3 July 1797''; and, to the lower-right, the most famous portrait of Nelson, by

Lemuel Francis Abbott Lemuel "Francis" Abbott (1760/61 – 5 December 1803) was an English portrait painter, famous for his painting of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (currently hanging in the Terracotta Room of number 10 Downing Street) and for those of other n ...

. Several other of Davidson's paintings illustrate episodes in the work of the

Brontë family The Brontës () were a nineteenth-century literary family, born in the village of Thornton and later associated with the village of Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte (1816–1855), Emily (1818–1848) ...

. Davidson exhibited at the

Royal Birmingham Society of Artists The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is an art society, based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, where it owns and operates an art gallery, the RBSA Gallery, on Brook Street, just off St Paul's Square. It is both a re ...

Dudley Museum and Art Gallery Dudley Museum and Art Gallery was a public museum and art gallery located in the town centre of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It was opened in 1883, situated within buildings on St James's Road, and remained at that site until its closu ...

, the

Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (RGI) is an independent organisation in Glasgow, founded in 1861, which promotes contemporary art and artists in Scotland. The institute organizes the largest and most prestigious annual art exhibitio ...

, Liverpool's

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

Manchester City Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three c ...

, 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 ...

, the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

, the

Royal Institute of Oil Painters The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, also known as ROI, is an association of painters in London, England, and is the only major art society which features work done only in oil. It is a member society of the Federation of British Artists. Histor ...

, and the Arthur Tooth & Sons Gallery. He was a member and regular exhibitor at the

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Art Club, 1912–1919. Davidson's painting for St Saviour's Church, ''Ephphatha'' – described by minister Reverend F. W. G. Gilby, O.B.E. as the church's principal adornment – illustrates the miracle of the healing of the deaf mute of Decapolis in

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

7:31-37.

Gallery

File:Thomas Davidson Burial of Admiral Drake.jpg, ''Burial of Admiral Drake'';

Buckland Abbey Buckland Abbey is a Grade I listed 700-year-old house in Buckland Monachorum, near Yelverton, Devon, England, noted for its connection with Sir Richard Grenville the Younger and Sir Francis Drake. It is owned by the National Trust. Monastic ...

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

ised absence. File:Davidson The Court Jester.jpg, ''The Court Jester''; 1877. File:Davidson The Pensioners Story.jpg, ''The Pensioner's Story'', 1883;

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:Thomas Davidson A Star in the East.jpg, ''A Star in the East'';

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery Cartwright may refer to: * Wainwright (occupation), a tradesperson skilled in the making and repairing of carts or wagons * Cartwright (surname), including the list of people Places ; Australia * Cartwright, New South Wales ; Canada * Cartwr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Thomas 1842 births 1919 deaths English male painters 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters Painters from London Deaf artists English deaf people 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists British artists with disabilities