signed; titled on gallery label verso
Provenance: Williams & Son, Grafton Street, London; Estate of Eric Connelly, Calgary (purchased February 14, 1973)
Montague Dawson spent much of his childhood by the sea, on Southampton Water, growing up with a father who worked as a yachtsman and under the legacy of a grandfather (Henry Dawson) well known as a marine artist. It is not surprising that he developed a love for ships, the sea, and art at a very young age. At fifteen, he obtained a job in London, working at a commercial art studio. Here, he was able to further develop his artistic skills. While in London, he was also exposed to many museums and to the works of the Dutch maritime masters that greatly inspired him.
At the onset of the First World War, he enlisted in the Navy. Dawson became a lieutenant, serving on minesweepers and trawlers. Because of his talent for drawing, he was tasked with the job of visually recording the war at sea for documentation and posterity. Many of these drawings were published in newspapers, with an entire edition of “The Sphere” being devoted to Dawson’s illustrations of the final surrender of the German High Seas Fleet. Also during this time, Dawson met marine painter Charles Napier Hemy, who befriended and mentored the young artist, and encouraged him to pursue art as a career.
After the war, Dawson became more involved in the artistic community, making the acquaintance of art dealers, honing his craft, and exhibiting. He also moved back to the sea. During World War Two, with the English Coast engaged in battles, Dawson did not move inland, but continued painting. At the request of Navy officials, he created dramatizations of sea battles, intended to reassure the public and convey to them the Royal Navy’s skill and courage.
After the war, Montague Dawson became a member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists, and began to exhibit there regularly. Post-war, he increasingly painted clipper ships, the multi-sailed majestic vessels that traveled from New York to China during the nineteenth century. He produced many paintings of these ships in various working scenes, but perhaps the paintings that are the most poignant are the elegant portraits, single ships, silhouetted by the horizon and infused with light, imbued with personality and character. It is these paintings that give us a glimpse into the the depth of his passion.
