Thomas Bush Hardy

Bragozzi off the Ducal Palace, 1882
Clearing a Wreck, near Boulogne

Thomas Bush Hardy (3 May 1842 – 15 December 1897) was a British marine painter, normally in watercolours. He was extremely prolific, but his later work, especially the larger and more finished pieces, has been criticized: "Once he had found his well-known formula of sickly yellow-green seas heightened with a knife, and brown knotted ships and rigging, his finished pieces became facile and repetitive".

His work often appears at auction in the UK, and remains popular with collectors. Aspects of his style were imitated by other watercolourists, including Frederick James Aldridge (1850–1933) and Thomas Mortimer.

Biography

Hardy was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, on 3 May 1842. As a young man he travelled in the Netherlands and Italy, and also fought for the Union in the American Civil War. He first exhibited in London in 1871.

He stood for election to the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (previously the NWS) several times but was never successful, but in 1884 he was elected a Member of the Royal Society of British Artists. He exhibited with the Society and also at the Royal Academy. His paintings feature coastal scenes in England and the Netherlands, the French Channel ports and the Venetian Lagoon.

He died on 15 December 1897 in Maida Vale, London, and was buried in an unmarked grave on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery.

Hardy had nine children. His son, Dudley Hardy, was a painter, illustrator and poster designer. His daughter, Dorothy, received an MBE after working as a nurse in the First World War.

Works

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Mallalieu, Huon, The Dictionary of British watercolour artists up to 1920, Volume I A-L, 3rd edition, p. 294, 2002, Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, ISBN 185149426X, 2nd edition on the Internet Archive
  2. ↑ Mallalieu, Huon, The Dictionary of British watercolour artists up to 1920, Volume I A-L, 3rd edition, p. 54, 2002, Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, ISBN 185149426X, 2nd edition on the Internet Archive
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Thomas Bush Hardy, 1842–1897". The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler. University of Glasgow. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Mallalieu, Huon, The Dictionary of British watercolour artists up to 1920, Volume I A-L, 3rd edition, p. 294, 2002, Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, ISBN 185149426X, 2nd edition on the Internet Archive
  5. ↑ Mallalieu, Huon, The Dictionary of British watercolour artists up to 1920, Volume I A-L, 3rd edition, p. 294, 2002, Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, ISBN 185149426X, 2nd edition on the Internet Archive
  6. 1 2 3 Dyduch, Amy (7 March 2014). "Keeping the memory of a family of artists alive". Richmond and Twickenham Times.
  7. ↑ He belongs to the Katwijk School which was part of the Hague School — the latter belongs to the international movement of the Impressionism.
  8. ↑ "Thomas Bush Hardy RBA (1842–1897)". www.thomasbushhardy.com. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Highgate Cemetery records, square 118, Grave no.21234
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Thomas Bush Hardy". Art UK. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  11. ↑ "Thomas Bush Hardy". Collection. Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  12. ↑ "Off the Dutch Coast by Thomas Bush Hardy". Art UK. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "View on the Grand Canal, Venice". Collections. Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  14. ↑ "Calais". Collections. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  15. ↑ "Boulogne Harbour". Collections. Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  16. ↑ "Fishing Boats at Sea". Collections. Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2014.

Further reading