T G Purvis (12 April 1861 – 17 January 1933) was a British marine artist. A sea captain who turned to painting, he was a prolific painter of ship portraits and marine scenes from the early 1890s to the late 1920s.His paintings can be found in a number of publiccollections, notably the National Maritime Museum and theNational Museum of Wales.[1] [2]
Thomas George Purvis (professionally known as T G Purvis) was born in Chirton, Northumberland,on 12 April 1861.[3] He was the only child of the then 46-year-old[4] Jane Scott, daughter of a master mariner,[3] and her husband,Thomas Joseph Purvis (1821–86), a blockmaker born in Alnwick.[4]
Purvis went to sea as an apprentice in December 1878, working his way upto obtain his Master's certificate in August 1887.[5] He sailed on a variety of steam and sailing vessels; the latterincluding two and a half years on the bark Arabella and a voyage toAustralia in the Dundee-built clipper, La Escocesa.[5] In 1886, he married Grace Elizabeth Dodgin (1861-1948), eldest daughterof shipbuilder and marine engineer Charles William Dodgin (1839-1917).[3] [6]
As a ship's captain, T G could only find employment deliveringnew small steamships to South America,[5] [7] and he gave this up in July1891[5] to become a full-time painter; he had already described himselfas "marine artist" in the census earlier that year.[6]
From this time until the beginning of the First World War he was a prolific painter, mainly of ship portraits, though probably his best paintings are those where he was not constrained by the conventions of ship portraiture.[1] [2] [8]
By 1888, when his oldest son Tom Purvis was born, he was living in Bristol.[9] He moved in early 1894 to Cardiff,[9] where he for a time also ran aphotographic studio, and was still there in 1902.[10] Soon after, he moved to Blackheath, London. He was in Blackheath when his son Tom started at Camberwell School of Art in ca. 1904.By the outbreak of the First World War, the great sailing ships Purvisloved to paint were in decline.In 1915 he moved to the Far East, leaving his family behind,[11] andtook employment as mate or master of various steamships, at leastuntil 1925.[5] Meanwhile, he continued to paint.[12] Purvis died in Hong Kong on 17 January 1933, after an accident.[13]
His five children all showed artistic talent in varying degrees,[14] especially his oldest son, Tom Purvis (1888-1959), who became one ofthe most distinguished and distinctive of 20th century poster artists.
Selections of his paintings can be found on:
The BBC's "Your Paintings" https://artuk.org/search/search/search/keyword:thomas-g-purvis
and on various art selling sites, including:
The Fine Art Emporium http://www.fineartemporium.com/se-Purvis-TG.htm
Bonhams http://www.bonhams.com/
Christies http://www.christies.com/