Monday, 28 August 2023

Charles Pears - Part 6

Charles Pears (1873-1958) was a marine painter and lithographer, born at Pontefract, Yorkshire. Pears worked initially as a black-and-white artist for magazines from the late 1890s, serving as a theatrical caricaturist for Pick-Me-Up. During World War I he was an Official War Artist for the Admiralty, a position he repeated during World War II, and he gradually established a reputation as a sound marine painter with a strong sense of design. He was founder and first president of the RSMA and his work found its way into the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and the Imperial War Museum. However, as a versatile draughtsman he also did many posters and illustrated Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1922, and the works of Charles Dickens. He wrote a number of books, such as From the Thames to the Seine, 1910, and South Coast Cruising from the Thames to Penzance, 1931.He exhibited widely, including the RA, ROI and Fine Art Society. He lived in St. Mawes, Cornwall.

This is part 6 of a 6-part series on the works of Charles Pears:

Chapman Pile Lighthouse
n.d. oil on canvas 50.5 x 76.5 cm

n.d. Charles Pears at the wheel of his yawl "Wanderer" with his wife ahead of him in Juanita
oil on board 38 x 53.3 cm

n.d. Convoy assembling in Falmouth Roads
oil on canvas 51 x 92 cm

n.d. Great Western Railway Weymouth and the Channel Islands
colour lithograph poster 105 x 130 cm

n.d. H.M.S. 'Revenge' coming out of a squall
oil on canvas 75 x 60 cm

n.d. Harvesting
oil on canvas 38 x 56 cm

n.d. HMS 'Coventry' saving the hospital ship 'Aba' from destruction by German bombers
oil on canvas 101 x 126.5 cm
Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro

n.d. School's Done
watercolour on paper 20 x 24 cm

n.d. Lesson's Done
watercolour on paper 20 x 24 cm

n.d. Longships Lighthouse, Lands' End
oil on board 54.6 x 80 cm

n.d. Mauretania
oil on canvas 239 x 363 cm

n.d. Moonlit Barque
oil on canvas 102.3 x 127.6 cm

n.d. On Deck
monochrome oil on paper 43 x 29.5 cm

n.d. Open Water
oil on canvas 51 x 76.5 cm

n.d. Overdue
oil on canvas 51.1 x 61 cm

n.d. Pilot off the Needles
oil on canvas 79.5 x 112.3 cm

n.d. Sailing in open waters with a barque on the horizon
oil on canvas 51 x 76.5 cm

n.d. Salvaging the Wreck
oil on canvas 58.7 x 40 cm

n.d. Signalling for a Pilot
oil on canvas 101.6 x 127 cm

n.d. Southern Railway cargo steamer under attack from German aircraft during World War II
oil on canvas 80 x 113.4 cm
Science Museum Group Collection, London
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

n.d. Stormy Seas
oil on canvas 51 x 76.5 cm

n.d. Surrender of U-111 to the Trawler 'Lady Shirley'
oil on canvas 81.7 x 127.2 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

n.d. The bombing of 'The British Chancellor', 10 July 1940
oil on canvas 80 x 125 cm
Falmouth Art Gallery, UK

n.d. The Boxer Revolution 
watercolour and gouache on paper 27 x 17.5 cm


n.d. The Crossing Sweepers (attributed to Pears)
oil (on?) 40 x 43.8 cm

n.d. The marvel of Mulberry; Normandy Landing, June 1944
oil on paper 31.8 x 53.3 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

n.d. The Navy's here (attributed to Pears)
oil (on?) 40 x  43.8 cm

n.d. The Needles, Isle of Wight
oil on canvas 38 x 59.5 cm
Gallery Oldham, UK

n.d. The Pool of London during Dockland Air Raids, 1940
oil on canvas 101 x 152 cm
Guildhall Art Gallery, London

n.d. The Roadstead
oil on canvas 51 x 76.5 cm

n.d. There is no uninhabitable unnavigable (1)
oil on board 92 x 130 cm
Ulster Museum, Belfast

n.d. There is no uninhabitable unnavigable (2)
oil on board 92 x 130 cm
Ulster Museum, Belfast

n.d. There is no uninhabitable unnavigable (3)
oil on board 92 x 130 cm
Ulster Museum, Belfast

n.d. Three types of Iceberg
oil on board 13.9 x 46.5 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

n.d. Visit the Dockyards Chatham, Portsmouth, Devonport - Southern Railway
colour lithograph poster


n.d. WW1 'Aurora' and 'Ardiel' taking mines aboard at Grangemouth
coloured chalk on toned paper 55.8 x 78.8 cm
Imperial War Museum
© IWM Art.IWM ART 1057

WW1 An Officer of an ML about to board a Norwegian Steamer
oil on panel 21.5 x 25.4 cm
Imperial War Museum, London
© IWM Art.IWM ART 1049

n.d. WW1 Plan for the Pageant of Surrender: Proposal for a large four-panel picture
coloured ink 17.1 x 49.5 cm
Imperial War Museum, London
© IWM Art.IWM ART 1666

n.d. WW1 Submarine K7
chalk on paper 14.9 x 46.1 cm
Imperial War Museum, London
© IWM Art.IWM ART 1054

n.d. WW1 The lights of Rosyth from the Forth Bridge footpath. Port Edgar and the Fleet
oil on canvas 71.1 x 91.4 cm
Imperial War Museum, London
© IWM Art.IWM ART 631

n.d. WW2 San Demetrio gets home
(for Post Office Savings Bank)
lithograph and letterpress on paper 77 x 50.6 cm
London Transport Museum © TfL

Friday, 25 August 2023

Charles Pears - Part 5

Charles Pears (1873-1958) was a marine painter and lithographer, born at Pontefract, Yorkshire. Pears worked initially as a black-and-white artist for magazines from the late 1890s, serving as a theatrical caricaturist for Pick-Me-Up. During World War I he was an Official War Artist for the Admiralty, a position he repeated during World War II, and he gradually established a reputation as a sound marine painter with a strong sense of design. He was founder and first president of the RSMA and his work found its way into the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and the Imperial War Museum. However, as a versatile draughtsman he also did many posters and illustrated Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1922, and the works of Charles Dickens. He wrote a number of books, such as From the Thames to the Seine, 1910, and South Coast Cruising from the Thames to Penzance, 1931.He exhibited widely, including the RA, ROI and Fine Art Society. He lived in St. Mawes, Cornwall.

This is part 5 of a 6-part series on the works of Charles Pears: 

1936 King's Reach
colour lithograph poster 101.6 x 63.5 cm
London Transport Museum © TfL

1936 London's Dockland
colour lithograph poster 101.6 x 63.5 cm
London Transport Museum © TfL

1936 Southsea and Portsmouth - Southern Railway
colour lithograph poster

c1936 Southsea and Portsmouth 
original artwork
oil on canvas 77.5 x 121.6 cm

1936 The Pool of London
colour lithograph poster 101.6 x 63.5 cm
London Transport Museum © TfL

c1936 The passenger Liner 'Queen Mary' arriving at Southampton, 27 March 1936
 oil on canvas 101.6 x 127 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

before 1937 Moonlight Barque
oil on canvas 102 x 127 cm
The Collection: Art & Archaeology in Lincolnshire (Usher Gallery)
© the artist's estate

1938 Now - To Ascot, Reading, Camberley by Southern Electric
colour lithograph poster 101 x 63 cm
London Transport Museum © TfL

1938 Paignton, South Devon GWR
colour lithograph poster 101.6 x 127 cm

1938 The Cambrian Coast, Miles of Glorious Sands
colour lithograph poster GWR
colour lithograph poster 101.6 x 127 cm

1938 The New Liner 'Orcades' Orient Line to Australia
colour lithograph poster 101.6 x 63.5 cm
V&A Museum, London

c1939-45 Night Scene of Southern Railway Steamers as Hospital Ships during World War II
oil on canvas 79.5 x 113 cm
National Railway Museum, York

c1939-45 Southern Railway Cargo Steamer under attack from German aircraft during World War II
oil on canvas 79.8 x 113.2 cm
National Railway Museum, York

1939-46 Battleship in Suez Canal, HMS 'Howe'
oil and ink on board 33.6 x 61.9 cm
The National Archives

after 1940 The Jervis Bay Action, 5 November 1940
oil on canvas 76 x 152.5 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

1940 Great Western Railway Steamer 'St Helier' evacuating troops, Dunkirk, 1 June 1940
oil on canvas 92.5 x 126.2 cm
National Railway Museum, York

1940 Shelling of a British Convoy by the Germans from the French coast, 1940
oil on canvas 101.9 x 152.4 cm
Imperial War Museum, London
© IWM Art.IWM ART LD 761

1940 The Evacuation of St Nazaire
oil on canvas 80 x 113 cm

1941 Handing over a convoy from American to British Escorts
oil on canvas 80 x 152.4 cm
Imperial War Museums
© IWM Art.IWM ART LD 1487

1942 A British Convoy on its way to Russia, 1942
oil on canvas  80.6 x 127 cm
 Imperial War Museum, London
© IWM Art.IWM ART LD 2682

1942 A German searchlight across the English Channel, 1942
oil on canvas 81.2 x 127.6 cm
© IWM Art.IWM ART LD 1916

1942 The Convoy led by Admiral Vian fighting its way through to Malta
oil on canvas 101.9 x 152.4 cm
 Imperial War Museums
© Art.IWM ART LD 2175

1943 The Norwegian Coast: Spring 1940
oil on canvas 101.9 x 152.4 cm
Imperial War Museums
© Art.IWM ART LD 662

c1943 Bombardment of Pantellaria, Italy, 11 June 1943
oil on canvas 80.9 x 127.2 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

c1943 Captain Sherbrook's Action, 31 December 1942
oil on canvas 40.5 x 76 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

1944 Sinking of Great Western Railway Steamer 'St David' (converted to hospital ship) off Anzio, 24 January 1944
oil on canvas 92.9 x 126 cm
National Railway Museum, York

1944-45 The 'Tirpitz' Attacked by Barracudas, 3 April 1944
oil on canvas 101.6 x 127 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

c1944-45 Convoy to Russia
oil on canvas 81.3 x 127 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

c1944 Sinking of the 'Scharnhorst', 26 December 1943
oil on canvas 101.5 x 152.5 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

c1946 Sinking of GWR Steamer St. David
oil on canvas 78 x 111.2 cm
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

c1946 Southern Railway steamer equipped as a hospital ship
oil painting 80 x 113 cm
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

c1946 Southern Railway steamers as hospital ships awaiting the wounded while Dunkirk burns
oil on canvas 80 x 113.2 cm
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

1947 Hastings by Southern Railway
colour lithograph poster 102 x 127 cm

c1948 The Wandsworth Gas Company Collier 'Chessington' moving upstream on the Thames, near the Houses of Parliament
oil on canvas 81 x 127.2
National Maritime Museum, London

1949 Isle of Man for Happy Holidays, Peel Castle - British Railways
colour lithograph poster 100 x 63 cm

1949 Isle of Man for Happy Holidays, Peel Castle British Railways
oil on canvas 101.8 x 63.7 cm
National Railway Museum, York

A Cutter in a heavy swell, a four-masted barque beyond
oil on canvas 50.5 x 61cm

n.d. A Glacier
oil on board 32 x 52 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

n.d. A P&O Liner
oil on canvas mounted on board 25.4 x 35.5 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

n.d. A ship and tug boat in a harbour at night
oil on board 57 x 44 cm

n.d. A Ship of the Queen Elizabeth Class
oil on canvas 33.7 x 56 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

n.d. Aboard a Minesweeping Trawler
 oil on canvas 38 x 62 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

n.d. Aircraft Carriers in the Malta Convoy
oil on canvas 81.3 x 127 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

Beachy Head, East Sussex, Moonlight
oil on canvas 33.5 x 54.5 cm
Towner Gallery, Eastbourne