Alfred Fontville de Breanski

19th century Scottish Loch landscape scene with cows, birds and sunlight

circa 1880

William Thornley was a painter of coastal scenes whose work is very similar to Hubert and Charles Thornley, who may have been members of the same family. He painted scenes of genre, architecture and landscapes as well. A number of the landscapes were of Belgium, Holland, Italy and Norway. However, it is for his seascapes that he is best remembered. Thornley’s works are beautifully detailed and show a masterful understanding of the moods of both weather and sea. They are often small in size and put together with fine detail and great artistic merit. Thornley’s fishing scenes are spirited and similar in style to those of “Jock” Wilson, and are often painted in pairs. Thornley’s works have always been popular when they appear on the art market. He was believed to have first exhibited marines at the Royal Academy in 1859 from an address in Paddington, London and also at the British Institution from 1861 until it closed in 1867. He continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy until 1898. Thornley also exhibited at the Paris Salon and the Salon of French Artists, receiving an honourable mention in 1881 and a third place medal in 1888. William Thornley also went by the names Georges William and William...

The former Curator of Oil Paintings at the National Maritime Museum, E H H Archibald, says of Joseph Heard in his Dictionary of Sea Painters in Europe and America that "…with Samuel Walters he must stand as the top-ranking Liverpool ship portraitist of the 19th century." He would have known the artist's work well as the National Maritime Museum has eleven paintings by Heard in its collection. Joseph Heard was born on 7th March 1799 in Egremont near Whitehaven in Cumberland. His father, also Joseph, was a saddler and it is believed that the aspirant painter received some artistic training from John Clementson who was a local portrait painter. Joseph had a brother Isaac who painted portraits. It is possible that Joseph came across the work of H Collins...

19th century English Antique Victorian Summertime Harvest landscape, with figures. John Mundell was a British painter of landscapes as well as river scenes and coastal views. It is suggested that Mundell was a pseudonym of John James Wilson. Mundell’s work was vigorous, bright, and attractive and compares favorably with the work of many of the better artists of his time. This is a very fine example of the artist's work. It is a rare composition for the artist as he mostly painted marines. This piece is framed in its original antique gold leaf frame

Alfred Vickers Senior (1786–1868) Shipping off the Coast, oil on canvas, circa 1860, signed lower left This lively coastal scene by Alfred Vickers Senior, painted circa 1860, reveal...