FAMOUS FREEMEN John Wilson Carmichael (1799 – 1868)
J
ohn Carmichael was a leading maritime painter in the nineteenth century. You may have seen his work in the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle or on cards sold in the local museum shops. Many of his paintings are of the River Tyne chock a block with sailing ships.
He was born in the Ouseburn area in 1799 where his father was a Shipwright. At an early age, John went to sea on a merchant vessel travelling the coasts of Spain and Portugal. After three years he returned home and was apprenticed as a Shipwright to Richard Harrington and Bros. who had a shipyard close to his home to the east of Newcastle. Although mainly working with wood, he had some draughtman’s training and his employer spotted his artistic potential. Richard Harrington was himself an amateur artist and he purchased a set of watercolour paints for John. After John finished his apprenticeship, he continued to work as a Shipwright and also acquired a studio close to home. His works in the early 1820s were mainly small watercolours of ships which he sold to the ship’s owners. He made a steady living and was able to become a full-time artist. By the mid-1820s there were regular art exhibitions in Newcastle and John exhibited paintings from 1825 to 1827 when the exhibitions ceased. He continued to work on maritime themes and was much influenced by JMW Turner who set the standard for the subject. John didn’t just paint ships as he was also an accomplished landscape artist. He produced a series of engravings illustrating the construction of the Newcastle to Carlisle railway in 1835 to 1838. He also produced paintings of John Dobson’s new buildings in Newcastle.
In 1835, he had a painting accepted and exhibited by the Royal Academy in London for the first time. He continued to exhibit in London and his work was highly praised for its technical accuracy, He was pleased with the recognition and, as opportunities to exhibit in Newcastle were limited, he decided to move to London. He had made a good living in the north selling small seascapes as well as producing large oil paintings. He continued to sell plenty of works in London but perhaps he wasn’t as successful there as he had hoped. He certainly found polite London society dull and at one gathering started to dance a hornpipe on his own. This went down like a lead balloon and he soon stopped. In 1855, John sailed to the Baltic to sketch events in the Crimean War for the London Illustrated News. He also expanded his repertoire to cover more sea battles, foreign subjects and famous events such as Grace Darling’s rescue of shipwrecked sailors and Queen Victoria’s visit to Edinburgh. In 1865 his work wasn’t selling as well as it had in the past and he and his wife were in poor health. They moved to Scarborough and he died there in 1868. From humble beginnings, John Carmichael had established himself as a well-known painter to the extent that he was a household name. His pictures can be found in many museums and galleries, particularly those with a nautical theme. They apparently still sell well but with prices in the thousands compared with the £30 million recently paid for a Turner.
Freemen Magazine
27
