|
|
Seago
|
|
|
Edward Brian Seago was born in Norwich in 1910 to a coal merchant’s family. At the age of seven, he developed an acute heart complaint which often confined him to bed and interrupted his schooling. As a result, he spent much of his time painting the scenes he was able to see from his bedroom window. A self-taught artist, he received little encouragement to pursue art from his parents, although he did receive advice from Sir Alfred...
Read More
Edward Brian Seago was born in Norwich in 1910 to a coal merchant’s family. At the age of seven, he developed an acute heart complaint which often confined him to bed and interrupted his schooling. As a result, he spent much of his time painting the scenes he was able to see from his bedroom window. A self-taught artist, he received little encouragement to pursue art from his parents, although he did receive advice from Sir Alfred Munnings, and some instruction from Bertram Priestman. At the age of fourteen, he won a special prize from the Royal Drawing Society, which encouraged him to take up painting as a profession.
The drama and glamour of the circus attracted Seago, and je joined Bevin’s Travelling Show when he was eighteen. He spent much of his early youth touring Britain and the Continent with them, and these travels are reflected in his work. Following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, he joined the Royal Engineers, despite his poor health. He was invalided out in 1944, but was invited to Italy by Field Marshal Alexander as an unofficial war artist of the Italian Campaign. They often painted together, and it was here that Seago discovered the charm of landscape painting.
Seago was a prolific painter in both oils and watercolours, creating about 5,000 works during his lifetime. He was also involved in the publication of a number of illustrated books throughout his career. He held his first solo exhibition in London in 1944, and two years later exhibited his war paintings which give a narrative account of the Italian campaign. This exhibition at the Colnaghi Gallery in London generated such acclaim that he was invited to hold annual exhibitions of both oils and watercolours for the next twenty years (1946-66).
These exhibitions attracted so many viewers, who would queue along Bond Street for hours before the gallery opened, that Colnaghi’s had to ration his paintings to one per buyer. The exceptions to this rule, however, were Queen Elizabeth I, who bought so many of his works that eventually the artist gave her two each year, on her birthday and at Christmas. Seago’s exhibitions at home and abroad were invariably ‘sell-outs’, usually within minutes of their opening. Seago also exhibited at Marlborough Fine Art and other prestigious galleries around the world.
Seago was a prolific exhibitor at the Royal Academy, Royal Watercolour Society, Royal Society of British Artists, Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Royal Western Academy, and internationally at the Paris Salon, in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Montreal, Oslo and Brussels. He was elected a Member of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1946, and an Associate and Member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1957 and 1959 respectively.
For half a century Seago epitomised commercial artistic success. He was widely travelled and was a firm favourite of several generations of the British Royal Family. He painted portraits of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth I, and acted as artistic adviser to several princes. He was also appointed an official artist for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and accompanied Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on a round-the-world tour on the Royal Yacht Britannia in 1956. The following year, he held an exhibition of these works at St. James’s Palace.
Seago died in 1974.
Read Less
Born
March 31, 1910
Norwich, Seago
Died
1974
Read More Read Less
|
|
|
|
|
PAST AUCTIONS
Showing
1
of
1
works
Need help? For more information on Indian Art, please see our Art Guide. For help
with buying through Saffronart please click here. If you have any other questions, please contact us.
|