'The Sailor’s Return, Jack at Home'
Oil on canvas: 39x52 in. Frame: 45x58 in.)Signed. Titled on original canvas, now re-lined (photo available).Original gilt exhibition frame.
PRICE GUIDE £25,000-30,000

Biography

Richard Poate (fl. 1845-1869), commenced the profession of Miniature Painter and Drawing Master at his Academy, 9, King Street, Portsea in 1829. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1845 and continued to exhibit until 1869. During the 1840s he worked from his residence at 35, St. George's Square, Portsea, which was, and still is, but a stone's throw from Portsmouth Harbour. By the 1860's he had moved to the more fashionable address at Pembroke Street, Portsmouth, which was near the High Street, the Garrison Church and the Cambridge Barracks. He exhibited three works at the Suffolk Street, including a portrait, Harvest Time, and this painting, The Sailor's Return.

The City of Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery have a number of his paintings, mostly portraits of civic dignitaries, but his known paintings and later his photographs connected with the military, are of great interest. 'The Sailor's Return' ranks alongside Poate's 1956 commission ''Crimean Banquet at Portsmouth'' (PMA) in terms of achievement and scale and is truly a museum quality work.

EXHIBITED: The Royal Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street.

LITERATURE: R.Poate of Portsmouth, Artist and Photographer by R.G.Harris.

MUSEUMS: City of Portsmouth Museum of Art Gallery.