DAWSON, Montague (1895-1973)
Dawson's father was an enthusiastic yachtsman and it is not surprising that
as a young lad, Dawson spent much of his time messing about in boats in
Southampton Water, to where the family moved from Dawson's birthplace in
Chiswick. Here the young artist first saw the towering masts and elegant lines
of that breed of sailing ship known as the 'tea-clipper'. Built for speed and
endurance, at the same time able to carry a considerable tonnage, these vessels
were designed to bring the tea harvest from China to the west as fast as wind
and tide would allow-and then some. Huge fortunes could be made by the company
who delivered the first cargo of the crop and so command the highest price and
rivalry between captains was legendary. Dawson could portray these magnificent
vessels under full sail in all their finery, "veritable clouds of canvas" like
no other. He alone seemed to have achieved the ability to paint a ship under a
full press of sail and put it in the water with apparent ease and a startling
accuracy. Dawson's ships cut through the waves-they don't bob about on the top
like so many lesser marine artists endeavours.
This ability did not happen overnight. For some ten years after World War I
Dawson worked to find a technique which would enable him to paint the sea as no
other artist had realised it before. He wanted to show light on the water and,
at the same time shows light through the water. In this he was helped by Charles
Napier Hemy, who Dawson met in the Royal Navy when he joined the Service at the
beginning of the war. Napier Hemy never quite got the knack of what Dawson
wanted, but through his influence and years of experiment, Dawson eventually
achieved the desired effect.
He used the local fishing boats and the small yachts that abounded in
Southampton Water as his models, and he frequently used gouache and watercolour
to pursue his aims. By the early 1930's Dawson was satisfied that he could
produce the desired effects and he began to paint the deep sea subjects for
which he became so famous.
Then, in 1939 came a fortunate break which Dawson took and which was to teach
him so much about tone values. Dawson was commissioned by the Sphere as an
official war artist to depict incidents from the war at sea, Allied landings and
propaganda subjects thought fit to release to the public to boost morale.
Because the war effort dictated that magazines such as the Sphere should use
second quality paper and inks with no colour printing, all the illustrations
appeared as black and white. Dawson noticed that where he had one colour showing
against another, in monochrome both appeared as the same tone, so detail was
lost. He therefore began to paint in monochrome and became aware of the delicate
subtleties of half-tone and light contrasts. When this knowledge was put into
colour, Dawson's pictures suddenly took on a realism not seen before in any
other marine artists work.
Such was his success that he ceased to exhibit at the Royal Academy (1917-1936)
but he retained his membership at the Royal Society of Marine Artists
(1946-1964). In the last years of his life, he used to joke that of every three
canvases he painted, one was for the gallery, one was for the tax man, and the
third one was for him! By that time his clients boasted the Royal Family, two
American Presidents (Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lyndon B. Johnson) and most of the
important private collections of marine art on both sides of the atlantic. Today
his pictures still continue to break records in auction and substantial demand
for his works is sustained and constant.
A print of the Battle of Trafalgar, published by Venturo of London 1972, signed in pencil bas droite and printers seal stamped bas gauche.
Dimensions: 29x35.75 inches
Condition. Very good. Framed and glazed
Price: £350 SOLD
