John Thomas Serres

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John Thomas Serres (born December 28 , 1759 in London ; died December 28, 1825 in Edinburgh ) was an English marine painter . He exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy of Arts and at times painted on behalf of George III. and George IV .

The Royal Sovereign (1809) , painting by John Thomas Serres in the National Maritime Museum , Greenwich

Life

John Thomas was born in December 1759 as the son of the French marine painter Dominic Serres . His father had left Gascony at a young age against his parents' wishes and had sailed from Spain. In the Caribbean he was taken prisoner by the British and was brought to Great Britain , where he married and settled. The family initially lived in Northamptonshire but moved to London before John Thomas was born , where Dominic Serres became a co-founder of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768 . John Thomas had four sisters and one brother. He was the oldest child in the family and the only one who succeeded his father as a marine painter. Through the mediation of a patron of his father, John Thomas got a job as a drawing teacher at the "Maritime School for Boys" in Paddington in 1779 , where he was probably employed until it was closed in 1787.

to travel

Vessel entering Livorno (1800)

Like his father before him, John Thomas Serres also made extensive trips through Europe from 1787 onwards. During his stays in Germany and Ireland, he painted the coastal views of Cuxhaven , Glückstadt , Hamburg , Dublin and Waterford . He also traveled to Europe in the early 1790s and stayed in Paris , Naples and Rome .

family

In 1791 he married a schoolgirl, 19-year-old Olivia Wilmot . The couple moved to Portman Square in Marylebone, London . there the son John Dominick South was born in December 1792, followed by the first daughter Mary Estrella Olivia in December 1793. Olivia gave birth to six more children, of which only two survived: Lavinia, born in 1797 and Britannia, who in January Was born in 1802. Between 1796 and 1798 the family moved from London to Liverpool and moved into the house of the engraver Moses Haughton. His wife Olivia Serres also made a name for herself as a painter and exhibited landscape paintings at the Royal Academy and the British Institution . However, the marriage turned out to be difficult and conflict-laden, as Olivia often accused her husband of being unfaithful and maintained a lifestyle that went well beyond his resources. She had also developed the idea of ​​being the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Cumberland . The couple divorced in 1805.

Career

The Harbor at Weymouth (1805)

After Dominic Serres' death, he followed his father as a royal marine painter. He also became a '' Marine Draftsman '' in 1800 and painted the coasts of Spain , France and the Mediterranean on behalf of the Admiralty . Under the title The little Sea Torch ("Das kleine Leuchtfeuer") he published an illustrated navigation aid based on this work in 1801, which also contained the locations of lighthouses and maps of larger ports. As a "Master of Drawing" Serres worked as a drawing teacher at the Chelsea Naval School in London. For illustrative purposes, he put together graphics of ship parts as part of this teaching activity, which he published in 1805 under the title Liber Nauticus and Instructor in the Art of Marine Drawing .

Although John Thomas Serres regularly exhibited works at the Royal Academy of Arts, he never became a member.

Financial and social ruin

A riverside hamlet (1821)

Despite her divorce from Olivia, who by now had earned the derisive nickname "Princess Olivia of Cumberland" in society, Serres continued to be held responsible for her debts. Finally he decided to leave England and moved to Scotland. From 1808 he got into increasing financial difficulties, and when Olivia's lawyers located him in Edinburgh and sued him for their outstanding fees, Serres was even imprisoned for his ex-wife's obligations. From 1817 to 1819 Serres tried his hand at running a theater. With an investment of £ 2,000 he participated in the opening of a theater in Newington on the south side of the Thames. He cooperated with two other investors in founding the “ Royal Coburg Theater ”. The name goes back to the newly wed Prince Couple Charlotte Augusta of Wales and Leopold of Saxe-Coburg , whom Serres was able to win as patrons due to his connections to the court. Serres designed a thematic space within the theater with reference to maritime motifs and a representation of the bombing of Algiers and also designed some sets. In 1822 the theater ran into serious financial difficulties, one of its business partners, director Joseph Glossop, fled abroad and Serre's investment was completely lost. The fact that he was also associated with the embarrassing and scandalous actions of his former wife Olivia Serres made it difficult for him - in addition to the associated financial difficulties - to deal with society. Olivia had in the meantime produced a large number of forged documents, drove through London in a rented carriage on which she had painted her own coat of arms, and pointed out that as "Royal Highness" she could not be sued. As a result, Serres was cut socially and his requests for an audience were not granted.

death

Royal Chelsea ferryhouse (1824)

In 1818 Serres was jailed in Edinburgh on indebtedness. When George IV visited Scotland in 1822, he was no longer fully able to perform his duties as a royal marine painter, but recorded the event in watercolors. Although still officially commissioned as a royal painter of Mary, he had to bear his expenses himself. He died in the debt prison three years later . The painter William Beechey successfully campaigned for the Royal Society of Arts to pay £ 20 for the funeral.

John Thomas Serres was buried next to his parents.

Liber Nauticus

In 1805, John Thomas Serres published a book in London with his work and some of the works of his father Dominic Serres under the title Liber Nauticus and Instructor in the Art of Marine Drawing . The title of the work referred to the Liber Veritatis , published about 30 years earlier , in which pictures by the landscape painter Claude Lorrain were summarized as examples, and which had had a lasting influence on landscape painting of this era.

Serres published the Liber Nauticus in two volumes in collaboration with the publisher and engraver Edward Orme. The second part, published in 1807, contains 24 prints of the works of John Thomas' father. These were executed in aquatint , which particularly shows off the swell. Another special feature of the second part of Liber Nauticus is that, in addition to the ship of the title in the foreground, other ships can be seen in each picture. In the preface, the editor drew attention to the multitude of ships depicted in this way with the words: ... there is scarcely any kind of bark, which floats on the water, that is not delineated ... (“There is currently no type of ship that is not shown ”).

Works

John Thomas Serres was one of the most successful and respected marine painters of the 18th century. He exhibited over 100 of his paintings at the Royal Academy of Arts and the British Institution . Even today his works can still be seen in numerous museums. Here is a selection:

National Gallery of Art , Washington DC

  • Fishing Boats on Shore, Man with Oars, Ship in distance (1803)

Tate Gallery , London

  • Whitby (date unknown)
  • Dutch Coast Scene (1795)
  • A Rock by the Sea (date unknown)
  • The Courtyard of an Inn at Tivoli (date unknown)

National Maritime Museum , Greenwich

  • Third Rates in a Rough Sea (date unknown)
  • The 'Royal Sovereign' (1804)

Walker Art Gallery , Liverpool

  • View of Liverpool from the Fort with a Ship on Fire (date unknown)

literature

Web links

Commons : John Thomas Serres  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
  • Short biography on the website of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, accessed February 6, 2019

Notes and individual references

  1. ^ Alan Russett: Dominic Serres War artist to the navy. Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge 2001, ISBN 1-85149-360-3 , p. 122.
  2. ^ A b Alan Russett: Dominic Serres War artist to the navy. antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge 2001, ISBN 1-85149-360-3 , p. 181.
  3. ↑ Entry on Olivia Wilmot-Serres Encyclopädia Britannica (1911) on wikisource.
  4. ↑ a b Entry on John Thomas Serres on the National Museums Liverpool website, accessed February 6, 2019.
  5. ^ Alan Russett: Dominic Serres War artist to the navy. Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge 2001, ISBN 1-85149-360-3 , p. 202.
  6. ^ Alan Russett: Dominic Serres War artist to the navy. Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge 2001, ISBN 1-85149-360-3 , p. 216.
  7. ^ A b Nicholas Tracy: Britannia's Palette. The Art of Naval Victory , McGill Queen's University Press, ISBN 978-0-7735-3113-0 , p. 241
  8. ^ George Rowell: The Old Vic Theater: A history . Cambridge University Press, Chippenham, Wiltshire 1995, ISBN 0-521-34625-8 , pp. 5-6.
  9. ^ Alan Russett: Dominic Serres War artist to the navy. Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge 2001, ISBN 1-85149-360-3 , p. 212.
  10. ^ Liber Veritatis or, A Collection of Two Hundred Prints, After the Original Designs of Claude le Lorrain, in the Collection of His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, Executed by Richard Earlom in the Manner and Taste of the Drawings , as the full title is , summarized some of the drawings and sketches by Lorrain that Lorrain had put together for teaching purposes about 100 years earlier and left for his foster daughter.
  11. ↑ Edward Orme (1775–1848) worked as an engraver on behalf of the royal family, but also invested in real estate and earned his living as a publisher. The Orme Square in London's Bayswater is named after him.
  12. ^ Alan Russett: Dominic Serres War artist to the navy. Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge 2001, ISBN 1-85149-360-3 , pp. 195-199.
personal data
SURNAME Serres, John Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English marine painter
DATE OF BIRTH December 1759
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH December 28, 1825
Place of death Edinburgh