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Edward SEAGO, RBA, RWS
British, 1910-1974
Bank of England and Royal Exchange, London
Watercolour on paper
Date c.1959 (paper clearly watermarked 'J. Whatman
1959',
hence same approximate date ascribed for this work)
From a private collector in Norfolk close to where
Seago lived
The work is typical of Seago's loose, Impressionistic
style,
technique, and colour palette
Image Size: 48 x 58.5 cm (19 x 23 in)
Framing: At client's choice unless re-framed
in meantime
Price: £5,850 |
Edward SEAGO, RBA, RWS
(British, 1910-1974)
One of Britain's finest and most
widely collected artists of the 20th Century
Born in Norwich in 1910, Edward Brian Seago was the son
of a coal merchant. At the age of seven he developed an acute
heart condition which interrupted his schooling in Lowestoft
and then at Norwich Grammar School. Often confined
to bed for considerable periods, he spent much of his time
painting scenes from his bedroom window. Although he received
little encouragement to pursue art from his parents, he did
receive advice from Sir Alfred Munnings, PRA, and some instruction
from Bertram Priestman, RA. At the age of 14, he won a special
prize from the Royal Drawing Society and from that time his
future career was decided.
Like Sir Alfred Munnings and Dame Laura Knight, Seago was
attracted to the drama and glamour of the circus. He joined
Bevin's Travelling Show when he was 18 and spent much of
his early youth touring Britain and the Continent, experiences
he related in his books Circus Company (1933) and Sons
of Sawdust (1934).
Despite his poor health, Seago joined the Royal
Engineers at the outbreak of the Second World War. He was invalided
out in 1944 but was invited to Italy by Field Marshal Alexander
as an unofficial war artist of the Italian Campaign. They
often painted together and it was here that Seago discovered
the charm of landscape painting.
The subject matter in the first half of his career extends
from his experiences on the road, to portraiture, sporting
subjects and ballet scenes. After the Second World
War he concentrated more on landscapes and street scenes,
travelling to France, Spain, Morocco, Italy, Greece, Turkey,
Singapore, Hong Kong and Antarctica, yet always returning
to his beloved East Anglia. He was a prolific painter in
both oils and watercolours, painting some 5,000 works during
his lifetime.
Seago was involved in the publication of a number of illustrated
books throughout his career including Peace
in War (1943),
High Endeavour (1944), With
the Allied Armies in Italy (1945),
and his autobiography A Canvas to Cover (1947). He
held his first solo exhibition in London in 1944 and two
years later exhibited his war paintings which give a narrative
account of the Italian Campaign. This exhibition at the Colnaghi
Gallery in London generated such acclaim that he was invited
to hold annual exhibitions of both oils and watercolours
for the next 20 years (1946-66).
These exhibitions attracted so many potential
buyers, who would queue all along Bond Street for hours before
the gallery opened, that Colnaghi's had to ration each prospective
buyer to one painting each: the exception being Queen Elizabeth
the Queen Mother who bought so many of his works that eventually
the artist gave her two a year, on her birthday and at Christmas. His
exhibitions at home and abroad were invariably 'sell-outs',
usually within minutes of opening.
After the war, Seago settled in The
Dutch House at Ludham
on the Norfolk Broads. Here he enjoyed the peace and
serenity of the flat, atmospheric countryside of his youth
and its proximity to the sea. A keen traveller and
sailor, Seago would regularly sail his boat Capricorn across
the Channel to Holland, Belgium and, particularly, France,
where he would travel up the Seine from Honfleur to Paris,
stopping to paint along the way. He recorded these
adventures in With Capricorn to Paris (1956). He eventually
sold Capricorn in 1968 and purchased Ca
Conca, a villa in
the elegant yachting resort of Porto Cervo on the Costa Smeralda
in Sardinia, which he would visit for a painting holiday
every year.
Seago was a prolific exhibitor at The
Royal Academy, The Royal Watercolour Society,
The Royal Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street, The
Royal Institute of Oil Painters, The Royal Western Academy, and internationally at the Paris
Salon,
in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Montreal, Oslo and Brussels. He
was elected a Member of The Royal Society
of British Artists in 1946, Associate of The
Royal Watercolour Society in 1957
and a Member of the RWS in 1959.
For half a century Seago epitomised commercial artistic
success. His exhibitions were invariably sell-outs,
he was widely travelled and was a firm favourite of several
generations of the Royal Family: he painted portraits of
King George VI and HM Queen Elizabeth and acted as artistic
adviser to several princes; he was appointed an Official
Artist of the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1953;
he accompanied HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on a
round-the-world tour on the Royal Yacht Britannia in 1956
and in 1957 held an exhibition in St. James’s Palace
of the pictures painted on this world tour; HRH The Prince
of Wales was a frequent visitor to his home in Norfolk; and
he was the close friend of the generals, playwrights and
actors of his day. He died in 1974.
His biographer, James Reid, said, "While
Seago's subject matter evolved within a fundamentally traditional
genre, his methodology, style and technique contributed to
an innovative interpretation of the rural, urban and marine
scene". His "innovative
interpretation" relied on a beautifully fluid and refreshing
use of paint. His work is recognisably spontaneous
- a moment captured in oil or watercolour, retaining the
essential mood of the occasion, whether vibrant or reflective.
Best
wishes
CHRIS
NOEL-JOHNSON
ALBANY FINE ART
T: +44 (0)
1367 870961
M: +44 (0) 7799 691 692
E: chrisnj@albanyfineart.co.uk
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