Today, we look at British artist #WilliamLionelWylie (1851-1931). He was a painter of maritime scenes and considered the ‘most distinguished marine artist of his day’. His works are held in the many of the major galleries and museums in this country and across the globe.

Wylie’s parents were also artistic. His father as a successful genre painter and his mother was a singer. They lived in London and Wimereux, France. Wylie was encouraged in his early artistic aptitude by his father and half-brother Lionel Smythe. His tutelage eventually brought him to the #RoyalAcademy were he worked under Landseer, Millais, Leighton and others. With his painting ‘Dawn after the Storm’, he won the Turner Gold Medal in 1869.

It was his love of the sea that continuously inspired his art. Wylie was a great supporter of the Royal Navy. So much so, that his funeral was with full naval honours. His coffin was rowed up Portsmouth Harbour with battleships’ colours dipped and bugles calling. The quayside was lined with dockyard workers in respect. His panorama of the Battle of Trafalgar which hangs in the #RoyalNavalMuseum in Portsmouth sees more than 100,000 visitors a year.

The engraving in my collection is ‘The Solent from Southsea with Fort Blockhouse’. It is no. 20 from a publication run of 50. Well struck with fine colour. A beautiful work by an extremely talented artist.