John Bentham-Dinsdale for sale on 1stDibs
Born in Yorkshire, England in 1927; died in 2008). Dinsdale painted the sea and great ships of the era when “Britannia ruled the waves” with her fleets of clipper and fighting ships whose huge white sails took men across the seas of the world. Dinsdale loved both the sea and the ships and professed he really only felt at home on the blustery east coast of England near the sea that he loved and painted so well. Dinsdale’s early years gave no indication that he would eventually be an artist, nor that he would excel as a marine painter. His mother was one of the many daughters of J.H. Bentham, a liberal social reformer; his father was a wine merchant. After attending Ashville College, Dinsdale spent five years at the School of Architecture in Leeds, graduating with a Dip. Arch, A.R.I.B.A. During World War II, he was a Commissioned Officer and pilot in the Royal Air Force. When the war ended, Dinsdale found work in the theatre, which had always been a passion of his. He designed scenery for a number of repertory companies in London’s West End and, at one point, ran his own company. An opening in British television came along and in 1956, he was made Assistant Designer with Associated Television in London. Three years later, he was Head of Design and Construction for Tyne Tees Television on Newcastle. Dinsdale had been painting virtually since he could hold a brush, but it was not until 1965, having moved back to Yorkshire, that he made a full-time commitment to marine painting and historical research. A founding member of the British Sea Painters Group in 1970, Dinsdale is included in Marine Painting by Omell and 20th Century British Marine Painters by D. Brooke-Hart. His work has been widely exhibited in Europe, Australia, Canada, the United States and the Far East. Dinsdale had his first one-man show in London in 1974. Sir Charles Cayzer bought one of his paintings and presented it to the H.M.S. Camperdown, a 19th-century Royal Navy battleship. In 1982, a painting by Dinsdale was accepted and hung in the Vancouver Municipal Galleries, and his work was listed and illustrated in the Dictionary of 20th Century Marine Art. Dinsdale’s wide-ranging research resulted in him painting not only English clipper ships, but American ones as well. Aided by his extensive marine library, he would make a few preliminary sketches, before developing his canvases. The sea in all its’ moods is shown in his paintings. The water has depth and sparkle; it pulses with movement and light under the action of the wind. The ships rest solidly in the water even as they careen under the force of the wind and waves, and are accurately depicted down to the detail of their rigging and accoutrements. John Bentham-Dinsdale carried on the English tradition of Masterly marine painting.
Finding the Right landscape-paintings for You
It could be argued that cave walls were the canvases for the world’s first landscape paintings, which depict and elevate natural scenery through art, but there is a richer history to consider.
The Netherlands was home to landscapes as a major theme in painting as early as the 1500s, and ink-on-silk paintings in China featured mountains and large bodies of water as far back as the third century. Greeks created vast wall paintings that depicted landscapes and grandiose garden scenes, while in the late 15th century and early 16th century, landscapes were increasingly the subject of watercolor works by the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and Fra Bartolomeo.
The popularity of religious paintings eventually declined altogether, and by the early 19th century, painters of classical landscapes took to painting out-of-doors (plein-air painting). Paintings of natural scenery were increasingly realistic but romanticized too. Into the 20th century, landscapes remained a major theme for many artists, and while the term “landscape painting” may call to mind images of lush, grassy fields and open seascapes, the genre is characterized by more variety, colors and diverse styles than you may think. Painters working in the photorealist style of landscape painting, for example, seek to create works so lifelike that you may confuse their paint for camera pixels. But if you’re shopping for art to outfit an important room, the work needs to be something with a bit of gravitas (and the right frame is important, too).
Adding a landscape painting to your home can introduce peace and serenity within the confines of your own space. (Some may think of it as an aspirational window of sorts rather than a canvas.) Abstract landscape paintings by the likes of Korean painter Seungyoon Choi or Georgia-based artist Katherine Sandoz, on the other hand, bring pops of color and movement into a room. These landscapes refuse to serve as a background. Elsewhere, Adam Straus’s technology-inspired paintings highlight how our extreme involvement with our devices has removed us from the glory of the world around us. Influenced by modern life and steeped in social commentary, Straus’s landscape paintings make us see our surroundings anew.
Whether you’re seeking works by the world’s most notable names or those authored by underground legends, find a vast collection of landscape paintings on 1stDibs.
