The Posner Maritime Art Collection

Featured Artist - Alfred Wallis (1855-1942)

Alfred Wallis was born on August 18, 1855 in Davenport, England.  He attended school starting at age 7 for about two years, and then claimed he became a cabin boy to Cornish fishermen.  However, the more likely story is that he was an apprentice basket maker.  Later on, at the age of 23 there is better evidence pointing towards employment with the Belle Adventure, of which Wallis was listed as a crew-member.  The Belle Adventure was a great sailing ship that carried global trade from 1820 to 1890 to Europe and the United States.  After several dangerous crossings, including one which almost resulted in the loss of ship and crew, Wallis started working on smaller vessels for inshore fishing, sailing only during the day.  Soon after, Wallis married Susan Ward.  She was a widow who was twice his age and already had six children.  The couple had two children, neither of which lived.  Wallis and his new family moved from Davenport to St. Ives in 1890, where Wallis opened a small shop selling nails, paint and old rope and other marine wares and salvaged goods.

Beginning in the 1890s, larger steam vessels were replacing sailing schooners and thus Wallis’s store of marine goods was no longer profitable as it relied on traditional fishing vessels.  He then began doing odd jobs such as moving furniture for local antiques dealers and building houses for the military who were preparing for what would later be known as World War One.  Susan died in 1922, leaving Wallis in a state of devastation.  According to the story, Wallis was so lonely and needed to fill his time and thus began to paint.  He preferred this to the company of people, of whom he was naturally disinclined to interact with.  His suspicions of everyone became more intense after his wife died, and he became more and more involved with painting.  His paintings were mainly of boats and harbors from the time of sailing fleets and an active fishing industry.  Since he was low on funds, Wallis resorted to the meanest of tools.  He used old household paints bought in small tins and painted on pieces of card (cardboard) that he could find. 

In 1928, well-known painters Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood moved to St. Ives.  While touring the area one day they saw one of Wallis’s paintings nailed to the wall of his home which prompted them to knock and meet the artist.  They established an “artist’s colony” that allowed Wallis to continue to paint freely, becoming one of the most influential marine artists of the 20^th century with his paintings that had a very unique approach compared with other artists of the time.  Nicholson later introduced him to Jim Ede, who was an art collector and assistant curator at the Tate Gallery in London.  There, Wallis’s work was displayed and Nicholson and Ede also purchased much of his work.  Regardless, Wallis was unable to make a decent profit and remained in poverty for the rest of his life.  He was moved to the Madron Institute, a local workhouse, in 1941 when he became unable to care for himself.  He died there on August 29, 1942 and was buried in the Barnoon Cemetery, which overlooks St. Ives’s Porthmeor Beach as well as the Tate Gallery which now houses several of his paintings.  Jim Ede later established the Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge and this is where a large portion of Wallis’s collection can be found today.

	Humbolt by Louis Gamain Oil on canvas, 16" x 33" Three-masted transatlantic paddle wheeler. click image to view larger
	S.S. Caronia by W. Bennett Oil on canvas, 12" x 18", Two-stacked liner. click image to view larger
	S.S. Nicholson by B. F. Bishop Oil on canvas, 27" x 36", Scene of WWI U.S. destroyer rescuing crew of German submarine with second destroyer "Nicholson" in support role. click image to view larger
	Wanderer by Edmond C. Coates Oil on canvas, 14 1/2 " x 24", A tranquil sunset harbor scene showing the motor-sailing vessel proceeding slowly through calm turquoise waters. Finished in dentil molded gilt and enameled wooden frame. click image to view larger
	Untitled by P. G. Haywood Oil on canvas, 12" x 18" Two unidentified four-masted, two-stacked liners at anchor. click image to view larger
	Princess Royal by J. Beckett Oil on canvas, 19" x 33", Condition: chipped frame BC, split TR. Back paper very brittle, breaking/tearing along right side.click image to view larger
	Ottawa Norge by Olaf Gulbransson Oil on canvas, 7" x 14", Tanker- An appealing sunset maritime scene showing a steamship against an emerald green sea. The bright blue sky is tinged with the apricot hue of a fading sun. click image to view larger
	Drenthe 2-Sail single-stacker in stormy seas with French flag, 25" x 33" click image to view larger
	Untitled Abstract scene of 2-stacked liner in stormy seas, 14" x 21" click image to view larger