Thomas Jones barker one of the leading
military artists of the Turn of the century. Military Prints by Victorian military
artist by Thomas Jones Barker, published by Cranston Fine Arts, the
military print company.
Thomas Jones Barker..Along with George Jones. Barker was perhaps the leading exponent of
'Battle' painting in Britain in the mid nineteenth century. his father M.
Thomas Barker, a landscape artist was his first teacher but in 1834, he
went to Paris to study under Horace Vernet. he stayed in France for
several years and received a commission from Louis Philippe to paint The
Death of the Grand Monarch. His first military pictures dealt with scenes
from early English history but it was between 1853 and 1876 that he
produced some of his most striking battle scenes. several pictures took as
their theme the Crimean War, and it appears that barker went out to 'the
seat of War' to tale sketches Upon his return he received several
commissions from the Manchester print seller Thomas Agnew and sons, The
most important being The Allied generals and their staffs before
Sebastopol (now in Private Collection) and general Williams and his
officers leaving Kars (National Army Museum) The former was painted from
nature and from photographs by Roger Fenton although several officers gave
sittings for both pictures. Agnews also commissioned The relief of Lucknow
(formerly Glasgow Art gallery) which was based on sketches taken on the
spot by a Swedish journalist named Egron Lundgren(1815 - 1875) The latter
was sent by Agnews and under the special patronage of the Queen, to
accompany Lord Clyde, who afforded Lundgren every possible advantage to
complete his work. Upon his return he supplied over 400 sketches and
portraits to barker. the final picture illustrated the meeting between
Havelock, Clyde and Outram at Lucknow. When the garrison was relieved. Unfortunately, the canvas was badly damaged during the bombing of Glasgow
in World war two. although it apparently surfaced at auction in new
Zealand in the early 1980's. A smaller version hangs in the national
Portrait Gallery, London.
Barker returned to the theme of the Crimean war towards the end of his
career, with two pictures at the Royal academy in 1874 and 1876 relating
to the charge of the light brigade at balaclava. and his 1877 canvas
exhibited in the Danish Gallery in Pall mall, the Capture of the Russian
Guns at balaclava (school of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering). His
visit to the front in 1870 to view the war between France and Prussia
inspired him to exhibit two scenes at the Royal Academy, one of which
riderless war horses after the battle of Sedan (Southampton Art gallery)
painted from a sketch made on the spot. September 3rd 1871, he also
painted the surrender of Napoleon III at sedan (Southampton Art gallery)
Another popular subject with the artist was the Napoleonic wars
particularly the Peninsula campaign, napoleon at Bassano, and Waterloo
including the meeting of Blucher and Wellington at La belle alliance, the
portrait of the Duke being a transcription of Sir Thomas Lawrence's
picture, while his horse Copenhagen was copied from a picture by James
Ward. Blucher was similarly inspired by a portrait owned by the Princess
Wilhelm of Prussia. the landscapes and building were painted from sketches
made on the spot. One of Barkers students was Henry Alken (1785 - 1851)
Painter of numerous military scenes.
Now Maitland Now is Your Time by Thomas Jones Barker.
The Duke of Wellington orders Maitland to move the infantry of the guard forward at the climax of the Battle of Waterloo during the Napoleonic war.
Item Code : DHM0197
Now Maitland Now is Your Time by Thomas Jones Barker. - Editions Available
Charge of the Light Brigade by Thomas Jones Barker.
Depicting Lord Cardigan (centre figure) amongst the Russian guns with the 13th Light Dragoons and 17th Lancers, other regiments in the charge of the Light Brigade were, 11th Hussars, 4th Light Dragoons and the 8th Hussars during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War.
Item Code : DHM0198
Charge of the Light Brigade by Thomas Jones Barker. - Editions Available
The Duke of Wellington overlooks the Dragoons and Artillery moving forward at the Battle of Vittoria during the Peninsula War, surrounded by his staff officers.
Item Code : DHM0196
The Battle of Vittoria by Thomas Jones Barker. - Editions Available
Now Maitland Now is Your Time by Thomas Jones
Barker The Duke of Wellington orders Maitland to move the infantry of the
guard forward at the climax of the Battle of Waterloo during the
Napoleonic war.
The Battle of Vittoria by Thomas Jones Barker
The Duke of Wellington overlooks the Dragoons and Artillery moving
forward at the Battle of Vittoria during the Peninsula War, surrounded by
his staff officers.
The Relief of Lucknow during the Indian
Mutiny by Thomas Jones Barker At the outbreak of the Great Mutiny in May 1857, 1,700
English and Indian troops fortified the residency in Lucknow, 270 miles
southeast of Dehli. They took refuge here as a mutineer force approached
on 1st July. The garrison held out against 60,000 rebels under Sir Henry
Havelock. On 25th September a force of 3,000 men of the British army,
commanded by Sir Havelock and Sir James Outram, fought their way into the
residency from Cawnpore. After marching for a week through the hostile
Oudh, the relief column had over 500 casualties, the garrison inside
Lucknow had lost almost as many men, including Lawrence, during the
defence of the residency. Sir Havelock died from exhaustion before a
second relief force led by Sir Colin Campbell arrived on 19th November.
Campbell reinforced the garrison before moving southwest to smother a new
uprising in Cawnpore. General Outram held the residency for four months
until it was liberated by Campbell on March 21, 1858. The rebel chief Nana
Sahib disappeared into the jungle.
Charge of the Light Brigade by Thomas Jones Barker
Depicting Lord Cardigan (centre figure) amongst the Russian guns with
the 13th Light Dragoons and 17th Lancers, other regiments in the charge of
the Light Brigade were, 11th Hussars, 4th Light Dragoons and the 8th
Hussars during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War.
Chris has produced a wealth of impressive paintings from the Napoleonic War, American Civil War, English Civil War, and a variety of Portraits of Great Military Leaders, He also has produced superb paintings of Pirates, a particular favourite of his. Chris studied at Berkshire College of Art 1966 - 1970 and then worked for Halas and Batchelor as a background artist. In the golden age of book cover illustration Chris made the Gunslinger, Crow and Herne series his own. To this day the shelves of high street booksellers are full of his work. Perhaps his best known popular pieces are in the now famous Jorvik Centres paintings which form the focus of the exhibitions promotion and won a travel industry award. In recent years his best work has been paintings, such as SPQR, Anne Bonny, Mary Reid and Calico Jack Rakam and Blackbeard in Damnation Seize My Soul. His super realistic style, using oils, brilliantly reflects the techniques, passion and depth of the old masters. He has a particular love of portraiture, which his portraits of Wellington and William of Orange certainly reflect, along with others from the English Civil War, his love of the subject. He is also fascinated by the awful romance of weaponry and war. Chris uses traditional Dutch paints made today, as in 1664, and is meticulous in his research and attention to detail, so scarce in our modern throw away society. Sir Anthony Van Dyke, William Dobson, Sir Peter Lely and Fortunio Matania played a vital part in his formative years. He also is much influenced by Meissonier and De Neuville.
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