Norman wilkinson artist biography

Dazzled! How a British artist transformed the seas of WWI

Oil and watercolour painter, printmaker and poster designer, born in Cambridge. Although early on he studied figure painting in Paris, further study with the river and coastal painter Louis Grier in Cornwall reinforced Wilkinson’s growing belief that he should concentrate on marine subjects, of which he became a master. He also studied art at Portsmouth and Southsea School of Art and later taught there. His career as an illustrator began with a first acceptance by the Illustrated London News in 1898, a publication with which he was long associated. He travelled widely abroad, in Europe, the Mediterranean area and in North and South America. In both world wars Wilkinson was important in the development of camouflage techniques, and he presented a big series of pictures concerned with the war at sea to the nation.

He showed widely, including the Fine Art Society, RBA, ROI, RI and Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. Work in many public collections in Britain and abroad. His book A Brush with Life was published in 1969. Wilkinson’s wife Evelyn was also an an artist.

Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)

It was the middle of the First World War, and the Germans were engaged in a highly destructive campaign against the British Navy. By the spring of 1917, German submarines were successfully sinking as many as eight British ships a day, crippling Britain’s defences. A solution was urgently needed.

A dazzling suggestion came from an unlikely source: artist Norman Wilkinson, renowned for his marine paintings and illustrations. His idea was to paint Britain’s naval fleet with bright, disorientating shapes, so that the enemy would be unable to calculate the type, size, scale, speed, direction and distance of the ship in their sights. The authorities were so convinced by Wilkinson’s idea, they ‘dazzled’ 2,300 ships through the course of WW1.

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Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Biography from Liss Llewellyn

Oil and watercolour painter, printmaker and poster designer, born in Cambridge. Although early on he studied figure paintings in Paris, further study with the river and coastal painter Louis Grier in Cornwall reinforced Wilkinson's growing belief that he should concentrate on marine subjects, of which he became a master. Wilkinson's wife Evelyn was also an artist. In 1895 his family moved to Southsea, Hampshire, where he attended the Portsmouth and Southsea School of Art; he later taught there. Arthur Conan Doyle introduced him to Jerome K. Jerome, the author and publisher of Idler and Today. His career as an illustrator began with a first acceptance by the Illustrated London News in 1898, a publication with which he was long associated. He covered the Russo-Japanese War for the periodical, and travelled widely as an illustrator. Other trips took him to Europe, the Mediterranean, and North and South America. He also illustrated several books, including Robert Louis Stevenson's Virginibus Puerisque. In both world wars Wilkinson was important in the development of camouflage techniques: In 1917 he invented dazzle camouflage and in 1939 camouflaged airfields for the RAF. In 1915 he served in the navy and did on-the-spot drawings for his book The Dardenelles. He painted fifty-six pictures of Second World War naval actions, and presented them to the nation; these are now in the National Maritime Museum. He designed innovative posters for the London and North Western Railway, LMS and SR, and organized the Royal Academy series of posters for the LMS in 1924. He showed widely, including the Fine Art Society, RBA, ROI, RI and Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. His work is in many public collections in Britain and abroad. His book A Brush with Life was published in 1969.

With thanks to artbiogs.co.uk

^{Biography from Liss Llewellyn}