Edward Duncan: large oil on canvas Scene Near Whitby

Edward Duncan RWS (1803-1882) English artist

Large Oil on canvas. Scene Near Whitby. Frame measures approximatley 110cm x 80cm. Signed & titled lower right.

Duncan was born in London. he was apprenticed to Robert Havells in the business of aquatint engraving. His first employ as an artist coaching and marine prints for such publishers as Fores. His introduction to marine painting was through William Huggins, whose pictures he engraved and whose daughter, Bertha, he married. Initially in his early twenties he would restrict his trips to the southern counties of England. He began to exhibit in 1830 and in 1840 he sailed to Holland. In the 1850s he sailed to the Channel Islands and in 1865 to Italy. He made occasional vists to Wales and Scotland. In his marine painting he often depicts rough and breezy weather and was most commercially successful with wrecks, rescues and lifeboats. He also ahsd a great affinity in depicting beachcombers and fishing folk. After his death his remaining unsold works were dispersed through a sale at Christies in 1885. Duncan's pictures are present in many museums and Gallery collections, examples being the British Museum, Victoria & Albert museum, Hawarth art Gallery, Blackburn Art Gallery, Glasgow Art gallery, Swansea Museum,