William Clark (26 June 1803- 11 November 1883) was a Scottish artist specialising in paintings of ships. His works are held 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 United ...

and other collections. He was born in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

, near Glasgow, and lived there all his life. His father was a seaman, later a customs officer, and Clark was at first apprenticed to a house painter but established himself as an artist in 1830. In 1835 he was invited to paint the regatta of the

Royal Northern Yacht Club Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

and was in 1838 elected to membership of the club. It has been said that he "was fortunate to live during the heyday of Clyde shipbuilding when commissions from owners and masters ensured a steady supply of work, enabling Clark to spend his career in his native town without having to seek patrons elsewhere". Beacon Arts Centre & clock tower

Galleries holding Clark's work include the National Maritime Museum, the

McLean Museum The McLean Museum and Art Gallery (now officially the Watt Institution) is a museum and art gallery situated in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the main museum in the Inverclyde area, it is free to visit and was opened in 1876. Most notabl ...

in Clark's native Greenock, the

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 ...

(Liverpool), the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

, the

Peabody Essex Museum The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, US, is a successor to the East India Marine Society, established in 1799. It combines the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem (which acquired the Society's collection) and the ...

(Salem, Massachusetts) and the

Yale Center for British Art Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

References

External links

* 1803 births 1883 deaths 19th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters People from Greenock British marine artists 19th-century Scottish male artists {{Scotland-painter-stub