John White

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John White is an internationally acclaimed marine artist.His work is highly collectable and is in collections in London, Hong Kong, America and France.In a life less ordinary there have been two constants in John's life.Painting and the sea... Having gone to sea when he was sixteen, in the following twenty two years he sailed on every type of merchant ship, from Union Castle liners, and the Cunarders, to small coasting tankers; and in every capacity from galley boy, to bosun, to master in Papua New Guiea.Twice shipwrecked, once aged seventeen when his ship broke in half in th Gulf of St Lawrence, and again in the South Pacific, he nevertheless always returned to the sea. There was one long interruption for a four year period with the R.A.F.in Malaya, where he flew on the the Sunderland flying boats of 205/209 Sqdrn F.E.A.F.(Far East Air Force) as nav instr mech. I suppose it could be said that he was still on the water. The local sailing craft in the many remote ports he visited made a great impression on him, and he sketched and painted them whenever he could.Dhows and bagallas with their high carved sterns at port Ocka in the Gulf of Cutch,fleets of ochre sailed junks ghosting into Aberdeen Harbour on Hong Kong island. Proas and baguis crowding the ports of Indonesia,and pearling luggers at sunset coming into Thursday island. All were recorded, and remembered.Later he would paint the huge commercial sailing ships engaged in the nitrate trad around Cape Horn, and the grain ships racing back from Australia.He recalled always having this special feeling for the sailing ships, long before he went to sea.At school during the war, when other boys were drawing tanks and planes,he said ,I was drawing sailing ships. One of my earliest memories is of a large picture of a sailing ship on a sunlit sea. It was in a tobacconist 's window,advertising 'Capstan tobacco'.I could almost hear the hiss of water creaming at her bow and the drumming of her taut canvas.In Australia in the 60's the time of commercial sail was only just coming to an end. The last of the stout two-masted ketches 'Sirius' Margaret' and 'One and All'were still bringing bagged wheat down from the Gulf ports to Adelaide, and one still carried dynamite on the Tasmanian run. Some of the wharfies there had worked the sailing ships loading for the last grain races to Europe. It seemed to me that I had ,,just missed them, especially as many of my shipmates had vivid recollections of the 'Pamir' and 'Passat' and their sister ships.I sought to combine my interest in painting and drawing with a first hand study of the elements to portray the essence of the sailing ship. The wealth of written material, from Conrad to the rigging plans of Harold.C.Underhill, and the many old photographs still extant, were also a constant source of inspiration.So it began and still is a continuing fascination for me, and if the interest engendered by my work is any indication, it is a fascination I share with many, for one of the loveliest and inspi rational creations of man.In 1975 while sailing his own boat he met Diana on the Gold Coast Queensland and he then and there decided to give up the sea and finally settle down. They married the following year and later returned to the U.K.Leaving the sea after so many years was never going to be easy, but he gradually established himself as a fulltime artist, exhibiting at ..The Royal Marine Society.The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours. The Neville Gallery Bath. The Wyllie Gallery London.Court Gallery Hampton Court London.The Alpha Gallery Swanage.The Higher Street gallery Dartmouth.The Towngate Gallery Poole The Peter Hedley gallery Wareham. The A.B.Gallery Salcombe. The Tradewinds Gallery Mystic Connecticut.The Arthur gallery Carmel Calif.With solo exhibitions biennually at the Barbican with Seatrade. Central Gallery Solihull,Annually. The Tall ships Race Newcastle upon Tyne.Warwick University. Birmingham University.and two large exhibitions at The International Maritime Organisation South Bank, one in 1998 and 2001. The sea though was never far away, and in 1989 they went to live on Green Island on the South Coast for five years. Diana the potter, and John the artist boatman. They then lived in Bournemouth for some years, and are now domiciled in the South of France where they both live and work as independant artists.

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John White

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Born in Christchurch, EnglandLives and works in Pézenas, FranceSolo Exhibitions The International Maritime Organisation, The Barbican , London. Work exhibited in galleriesThe Burford Gallery, CotswoldsTowngate Gallery, DorsetEast Molesley Gallery, Hampton CourtTorrance Gallery, EdinburghTradewinds Gallery, Mystic, ConnecticutCarmel Gallery, CaliforniaGalerie 17, PézenasGalerie Pézenas.Group Exhibitions
No Frame

Portfolio

Ships
Hong Kong
Latest

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Themes

JW Watercolours

Ships

Hertzogin Cecilia
Passat
Coromandel Coast
Easting Down
Fairweather Canvas
Potosi

Hong Kong

Aberdeen Noon '57 [50%].JPG
Aberdeen Afternoon '57 [50%].JPG
Aberdeen Evening '57 [50%].JPG

Latest

Elephant Island

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John White

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If you would like further information on John or his paintings including pricing and commissions please contact me below.

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JW Watercolours

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