A wonderful coastal marine painting of boats off a busy harbour at dawn by George Stainton. A large ship is depicted having weighed anchor and with sails unfurled as a supply boat arrives port side. In the foreground, a group of fishermen can be seen in a rowing boat waiting for their next catch. In the distance, lies a busy harbour, possibly Chatham Dockyard.

George Stainton was a marine and landscape artist who was born in Aston, Birmingham in October 1838 to John Stainton and Ann Horton. By the age of 12, he was working as a Papier-mâché painter and then later as a Japanner before becoming a full-time artist. He specialised in painting seascapes and river scenes in the style of Abraham Hulk and was influenced by the Dutch school.

He exhibited at the Royal Society of Birmingham Artists from 1865 and also at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. He married Clara Adelaide Mason on 8 November, 1866 and together they lived in Addesley Street, Aston. The couple had 8 children and one of their sons, Ernest Stainton, became a lithographic artist. By 1881, Stainton had moved to nearby Moseley Road where many Birmingham artists of the industrial period lived and also took up photography. Sometime during the late 1880’s early 1890’s, he moved to 14 St Pauls Road, Kings Norton. He died at Kings Norton in 1900.

Whilst Stainton lived in Birmingham all his life, he travelled around the country painting coastal views of the Bristol Channel, Portsmouth and the Medway, as well as river scenes of the Thames, Tyne and Mersey. He also visited Scotland and Northern France. His works are beautifully detailed and show a masterful understanding of the moods of the weather and movement of the water. His paintings have always been popular when they appear on the art market.

© Benton Fine Art