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Norman WilkinsonThe Pool of London1902
1902
About the Item
Signed and dated '1902' lower right
Contemporary style hand made frame
Provenance:
Tryon Gallery
Private collection
In this painting we can we Blackfriars Bridge in the background reaching across the River Thames with smoke billowing up into the sky behind. On the far right the unmistakable, and instantly recognisable, silhouette of St Pauls also breaks the sky line of the city. Finished in the early 18th Century, St Pauls has been a noticeable addition to the London cityscape ever since.
This work by Wilkinson depicts 'The Pool' of London, a stretch of the River Thames from London Bridge to below Limehouse. As part of the Tideway of the Thames, the Pool was navigable by tall-masted vessels bringing coastal and oversea goods to the wharves that originally made up the Port of London. In 1909 the Pool came under the jurisdiction of the Port of London Authority. The docks here thrived until the late 1950s, despite suffering from extreme bomb damage during the Second World War.
The tall-masted ships that Wilkinson has depicted here are perfect examples of traditionally rigged sailing craft of the time. They differ from modern sailing vessels in that they did not use newer materials (such as aluminium and steel) and have more complex rigging as a result. The term tall ship later came into widespread use in the mid-20th century with the advent of Tall Ships' races. Here, incredible attention to detail has been applied by Wilkinson in the accurate depiction of the various ships rigging, specific attention being given to the ship in the left foreground.
Smoke arises from the city, blending into the clouds. The juxtaposition of the steam ships hint at the unavoidable dominance that steamships would eventually have over the favoured sail ships. Indeed, while sails provided supplementary power to ships with oars, as sails were not designed to sail to windward, steamships' complete independence from the wind gave them the ability to take shorter routes internationally. The new ability to pass through the Suez and Panama Canals made sailing ships uneconomical
- Creator:Norman Wilkinson (1878 - 1971, British)
- Creation Year:1902
- Dimensions:Height: 24 in (60.96 cm)Width: 32 in (81.28 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU52410476162
Norman Wilkinson
Born in Cambridge in 1898 and educated at Southsea School of Art, Norman Wilkinson is known for his graphic art, specifically his British Railway poster images, and also for something quite incredible; Wilkinson revolutionized the art of naval camouflage. Having been assigned to submarine patrols in Dardanelles, Gallipoli, and Gibraltar during WWI as a member of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, Wilkinson was deeply troubled by the unprecedented success the German submarine fleet had torpedoing British ships. He hoped to find a solution to this gaping vulnerability, and in a lightning bolt moment, he had an epiphany that would change everything. Wilkinson says in his autobiography, A Brush With Life (Seeley, 1969), that he realized a ship could be painted to hide its shape against the sea and sky. In his own words, Wilkinson states that the hull of a ship could be camouflaged "not for low visibility, but in such a way as to break up her form and thus confuse a submarine officer as to the course on which she was heading." After some preliminary testing, the theory Wilkinson called "dazzle camouflage" was accepted by British Admiralty and Wilkinson was placed in charge of the naval camouflage unit. The unit, which was headquartered in the basement of the Royal Academy of Arts, consisted of Wilkinson and about two dozen "camoufleurs;" they were artists, students, model makers and consultants, including a zoologist. The dazzle schemes were tested on models and then distributed to artists who were stationed at the docks, where the ships would be painted. At the end of the war Wilkinson was formally declared the inventor of dazzle camouflage and awarded for his contribution. Wilkinson went on to enjoy a long and celebrated career as a painter of maritime scenes, naval vessels, and warships. He served as the president of the Royal Institute of Painter in Water Colours (RI) from 1936 until 1963 (elected member in 1906); he was elected Honourable Marine Painter to the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1919, and he was a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Society of Marine Artists, and the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. In 1918 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), and a Commander of the Order (CBE) in 1948. In January 1920 he was appointed knight (chevalier) of the Belgian Order of the Crown. Among many notable points of interest regarding Wilkinson's career is that his painting Plymouth Harbour, which was commissioned by Cunard White Star Lines for the first class smoking room of the RMS Titanic, was lost at sea when it perished with the ship. Wilkinson had also created a comparable painting entitled The Approach to the New World, for the Titanic's sister ship, the RMS Olympic. This work may be seen in the 1958 film A Night to Remember in scenes aboard the Titanic, where is served as the stand-in for Plymouth Harbor.
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