Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are delighted to offer for sale one of the rare naval watercolours by Alma Claude Burlton Cull, the most respected naval artist, who has signed the painting A.B. Cull in the lower right hand corner. The watercolour is entitled on the old gilt mount 'H.M.S. Royal Sovereign with the Channel Fleet'. We have retained this old mount and placed it in the back of the watercolour for historical accuracy.

H.M.S. Royal Sovereign was built at Portsmouth Naval Dockyard and was launched on 24th April 1915. She was a Revenge Class Battleship and completed trials in 1916 but just missed the Battle of Jutland due to her inexperienced crew. She also served in WW2 where she was transferred to the Soviet Navy on loan in 1944, renamed Arkangelsk, and returned to the Royal Navy in 1949, renamed Royal Sovereign and scrapped.

Alma Claude Burlton Cull was born in Thornton Heath, Surrey in 1880. He was a noted English marine painter, who worked in both oils and watercolours and specialised in painting ships, particularly those of the Royal Navy, although he did some topographical watercolours of various places around the globe.

He was a contemporary of William Lionel Wyllie RA, with whom he was favourably compared, although his work is much rarer. Kind Edward VII commissioned some of his paintings.

He exhibited at The Royal Academy, the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, the Alpine Club Gallery, the Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham, the London Salon, the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool and the Bruton Galleries.

He retired with his wife to Lee-on-Solent in Hampshire, where he died in 1931. After his death, his widow stored all of his unsold work in his studio in Old Portsmouth, where, sadly, it was totally destroyed in a bombing raid in 1940, hence the rarity of his work. There are three examples of his naval paintings in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and these can be viewed at BBC - Your Paintings on google, under the artist's name.

His naval paintings particularly achieve prices in the thousands of pounds and auction results may be found at the usual sites.

The painting is newly double mounted in two tone acid free mountboard and is newly framed in a 1 1/8" dull silver frame. It will be supplied wired and ready to hang.

Image size 26 1/8" x 10 1/4" - 66.35cm x 26cm

Frame size 34 3/8" x 18 3/4" - 87.3cm x 47.6cm

Medium Watercolours

Condition Excellent condition with no foxing or fading. The mounts and frame are new.