Montague Dawson is considered the greatest marine painter of the 20th century in the realist tradition, known for the strict accuracy and nautical detail of his paintings. With little formal training, he was fascinated with ships from an early age and began drawing at the age of eight. After working as an illustrator in London he enlisted in the Royal Navy and earned the duty of keeping a visual record of the war at sea. Mentored by the marine painter Charles Napier Hemy, he made a career of his work and formed a strong partnership with Frost and Reed Gallery in London who represented him for the remainder of his career. After marrying and having a daughter he moved his family to Milford on Sea in Hampshire in 1934 where he painted until his death in a cottage he built behind his house. He exhibited regularly at both the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the Royal Academy and was known best for his clipper ships and multi masted sailing vessels of the mid 19th century whose graceful lines and romantic history enchanted him. His clients include the British Royal Family as well as two US Presidents, and he is represented in major private and public marine collections worldwide.
Born in Chiswick, London in 1895, Montague Dawson was the son of a keen yachtsman and captain in the merchant marine, and grandson of the painter Henry Dawson (1811-1878). His family moved to the edge of the sea at Southampton, Hampshire where he spent his childhood learning about ships, sailing and fishing - all skills that he used as inspiration for the drawings he began producing from the age of eight.
Montague Dawson had very little formal training. At the age of fifteen he began working for a commercial art studio in Bedford Row in London where he received a solid background in commercial illustration and poster design. He also attended museums in London, introducing himself to Dutch marine artists. His education was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War when he enlisted in the Navy. He became a lieutenant serving on minesweepers and trawlers, but it was his drawing skills and understanding of ships that landed him the duty of keeping a visual record of the war at sea. His drawings were used to illustrate the weekly British magazine, The Sphere, which published an entire issue with Dawson’s firsthand drawings documenting the surrender of the German Grand Fleet in 1918. He was also a contributor to the Tatler and the London Illustrated News, and began to submit paintings to the Royal Academy in order to establish his reputation as a marine painter as well as an illustrator. It was during his time with the Royal Navy that Dawson was introduced to the marine painter Charles Napier Hemy. The well established artist mentored Dawson and encouraged him to continue with a career in the arts.
After the war Dawson returned to his position in London and continued to work as a commercial illustrator. In 1924 he was the official artist for the steam yacht St. George during an expedition to the tropics, documenting the voyage and sending drawings back to London. The trip cemented his love of ships, history, and adventure at sea and his artwork was published in The Graphic. He continued to publish illustrations in the Sphere after his return to London. In 1926 he formed a partnership with the art dealer Frost & Reed Gallery in London who would remain his representatives for the remainder of his career. At this time he began to work increasingly in oil painting instead of watercolour and drawing.
In 1925 Dawson married Doris Mary and the couple had their daughter Nyria in 1928, naming her after the J-class yacht of the era. In 1934 he moved his young family out of London to Milford on Sea in Hampshire. It was at this same time that his standing as a Marine artist grew, and by 1937 he was able to rent and eventually purchase a large Art Deco house on the coast where he would reside for the rest of his life. He remained there even during World War II when many of his neighbours moved inland to be away from the coast which had become the front line in the new war. Although he could not serve due to his age he again began to produce works of current maritime events for the Naval office, which were again published in the Sphere. The paintings Dawson produced for the Royal Navy were used in the effort to reassure the public of the Royal Navy’s competency in battle.
In 1946 Montague Dawson became a member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists where he exhibited regularly between 1946 and 1964. He also exhibited occasionally at the Royal Academy between 1917 and 1936. He increasingly focused on more nostalgic Clipper ships and multi masted sailing vessels of the mid 19th century, whose graceful lines and romantic history enchanted him. He depicted these set in historical battle scenes and races as well as simply set against the horizon. His client list from this period contained the most prestigious collectors including the British Royal family and two US Presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson. After the second world war and until his death in 1973 he was considered the leading marine artist of the day and he continued to work in the home studio he had built in the 1930’s behind his house on the coast in Hampshire.
Montague Dawson’s work can be found in many of the most prestigious private and public naval collections worldwide, including the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, The Royal Naval Museum of Portsmouth, Southampton City Art Gallery, Tyne and Wear Museum in Newcastle on Tyne, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina.
In his book The Marine Paintings of Montague Dawson, author Ron Ranson writes that “Shortly before his death in 1973, a remarkable tribute was made to Montague Dawson. He looked out of his window one day to see two fully rigged training ships, the Royalist and the Sir Winston Churchill, apparently sailing straight towards his house on the shore. At what appeared to be the very last moment, they turned about, and both ships dipped their ensigns in salute to the man who had probably done more than any other to capture the magic and majesty of sail”.