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signed l.c. on a buoy:C Brooking

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Sir Bruce Ingram, sold Sotheby's, 11th March 1964, lot 4, bt. Leggatt for £14,500
EXHIBITED

Colnaghi, Masterpieces of Maritime Art from the Collection of Captain Bruce Ingram, 1938, no. 5;
Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, Early Maritime Paintings, 1951, no. 259;
Royal Academy, European Masters of the 18th Century, 1954-5 no. 145;
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1958;
Aldeburgh Festival and Bristol City Art Gallery, Charles Brooking, 1966, no. 27;
British Council Exhibition, Milan, 1975
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

E. Mitchell, A Book of Ships, 1941, plate 12;
F. Gordon Roe, Sea Painters of Britain, 1947, plate 3;
David Joel, Charles Brooking, 2000, p. 115, no. 3A, illus in colour on p. 5
CATALOGUE NOTE

Brooking's art was at its greatest when he painted shipping in calm waters. No British marine painter understood better how to create the atmosphere of a still day when there is hardly a ripple in the water and ships sit majestically in the sea. He also observed closely the formation of the clouds, and the very accurate position of the vessels show that he was a not only superb artist but also a skilled seaman. At their best these pictures of shipping in calm waters rival the finest work of Willem van de Velde.

In this painting there is a light breeze coming from the left. An English 18 gun frigate is shown starboard quarter to, with a cutter and two luggers beside her. Her fore and main topsails are set, the mizzen topsail being hoisted, and she flies pennants at each masthead and a Red Ensign at the stern. On the horizon is a second frigate of 20 guns, and in the right foreground lies a fishing pink.

The painting is one of the seven pictures by Brooking offered for sale by the executors of Sir Bruce Ingram at Sotheby's in March 1964. Ingram had an outstanding collection of Brooking's work, brought together in the 1920's and 1930's, eleven of which were sold at Sotheby's in sales in 1964 and 1965 and three of which were presented to the National Maritime Museum. His collection of works by Brooking was rivalled only by that of Paul Mellon, who sponsored the first ever Brooking exhibition in 1966.