SHIP PORTRAITS - THE PAINTINGS OF JACK SPURLING
                         AND ANTOINE ROUX AND HIS THREE SONS, PAINTERS
                                               OF MARSEILLES
 


             This website displays the watercolours of Jack Spurling, the preeminent marine artist of
           the ships of the last years of sail, and
follows with a sample of the work of the extraordinary
              talent of the Roux family of Marseilles whose paintings of ships span close to a century from the 1790's
              to the 1880's
         
              See also
photos. postcards,  lithographs, engravings and paintings of:-
                     
               http://www.findboatpics.net -  sailing ships in the Australian and New Zealand trade, 1840s -1880s
               
               http://www.findboatpics.com.au - paddle and screw steamers and auxiliaries in the Australian and
               New Zealand tra
de from the 1850s to 1914

               http://www.findboatpics.net.au - steamers and motor ships in the Australian and New Zealand 
               trade from 1918 to the 1979s

             
 http://www.19thcenturyshipportraitsinprints.com- aquatints, (E. Duncan after W.J. Huggins)
               lithographs (T.G. Dutton, J.R. Isaac and Currier & Ives) and engravings (Illustrated London News)
               


 
             
 A. JOHN ROBERT CHARLES ('JACK') SPURLING  
                                     (1870-1933)                                                   

     

                   CUTTY SARK & THERMOPYLAE (in the foreground) in the tea race of 1872
      
                
                 Watercolour by Jack Spurling                                                                                     From "The Best of Sail" 
     
               
               Jack Spurling's father was an importer and lived near the docks in London.  He
            began sketching
ships at an early age.  At the age of sixteen he went to sea as an
            apprentice in a sailing vessel.  
He spent some time in a Devitt & Moore sail training
            ship.  He obtained his Second Mate's
Certificate.  He was a seafarer for seven years
            and ended his time at sea as a second mate on a 
steamship.. During his time at sea
            he drew and developed his skills as a water-colourist and
accepting commissions
            from other seafarers for pictures of both sail and steamships. Ashore,
he worked as
            an actor in musical productions. In  April 1921, he met the editor (F.A. Hook) of
           
Blue Peter - a nautical magazine. Hook purchased  Jack  Spurlings' holding of
            pictures and
commissioned  watercolours of clipper ships for the cover of his
            magazine.  The first of the
Spurling covers in Blue Peter appeared in March 1923.
            In 1928, under Hook's editorship,
the paintings on these covers appeared in a book
            SAIL: The Romance of the Clipper Ships
, Vol.I, 'pictured' by Jack Spurling, 'storied'
            by Basil Lubbock.and edited by Hook. Volume II followed
in 1929, and Volume III
            in 1933 - the year of Spurling's death. Hook died in 1935.  


            The watercolour images that follow are from SAILVolumes I, II & III.
 
          
                                                                                                                     

                      Watercolours from:-

                          From Volume I of SAIL: The Romance of the Clipper Ships
                          1. Blackwall Passenger Ships (BPS)
                          2. American-built Clipper Ships (AB)
                          3. Tea Clippers  (TC)
                          4. Wool Clippers (WC)


                          From Volume II of SAIL: The Romance of the Clipper Ships
                          1. Wool Clippers (WC2)
                          2. Passenger and Emigrant Clipper Ships (PEC)
                          3. Tea Clippers (TC2)
                          4. General Traders (GT)
                          5. Training Ships  (TS)

           
                          From Volume III of SAIL: The Romance opf the Clipper ships
                          1. Calcutta Jute Clippers (CJC)
                          2. Blackwall Passenger Ships (BPS2)
                          3. Australian Traders (AT)
                          4. New Zealand Traders (NZT)
                          5. General Traders (GT2


                         
                     Spurling Watercolour Index

 

                    Sources of Information & Comment:-
                     

                         Basil Lubock's
                         - Texts in SAIL:The Romance of the Clipper Ships,
                             Volumes I, II, & III
                         - The Blackwall Frigates                          

                         - The Colonial Clippers
                         - The China Clippers
                         - The Last of the Windjammers, Volume I
                         - The Log of the Cutty Sark

                         Henry Brett's
                          - White Wings, Volume I

                         David R. MacGregor's
                          - The Tea Clippers

                         Alan Villiers -Introduction
                         _ The Best of Sail    


              B. Antoine Roux (Pere) & His Three Sons, Antoine (Fils),
                            Frederic and Francois, Painters of Marseilles
                     (L'auter presente ses excuses pour l'absence d'accents dan le texte en francais)                               
                     

                 
                 Marseille - the exit from the port and the view over the harbour                                       Antoine Roux 1831




                 ANGE-JOSEPH ANTOINE ROUX, PERE (FATHER), 1765-1835 - PAINTED AS ANTOINE ROUX

                 MATHIEU-ANTOINE ROUX, FILS (SON) 1799-1872 - PAINTED AS ANTOINE ROUX , FILS 

                 FRANCOIS JOSEPH FREDERIC ROUX, SON (1805-1870) - PAINTED AS FREDERIC ROUX

                 FRANCOIS GEOFFROI ROUX, SON (1811-1882) - PAINTED AS FRANCOIS ROUX


                   
                   Watercolours by:   

                1. Antoine Roux, pere 
                 A. From "The Artful Roux" by Philip Chadwick Foster Smith (ARP-A)
                      (Images from the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., U.S.A.)
                 B. From the Christie's Catalogue, Monaco, December, 1990 (ARP-B)
                 C. From "Sailing Ships of the Romantic Era" by Jean Meissonnier (ARP-C)
                 D. Prints from "L'Age D'Or De La Marine A Voile" by Jean Meissonnier (ARP-D)
                 E.  From "Ships and Seascapes" by David Cordingly (ARP-E)
                 
F.  From the Royal Museum Greenwich, U.K. (ARP- F)
                 G. From the Sketchbooks of Antoine Roux, Peabody Essex Museum website (ARP-G)                     
                 H. From Wikipedia (ARP-H)     
                 I.  From the "Dictionary of Ship Types" by Alfred Dudszus and Ernest Henriot (ARP-I)

                2. Antoine Roux, fils 
                 A. From "The Artful Roux" by Philip Chadwick Foster Smith (ARF-A)
                 B. From the Christie's Catalogue, Monaco, December, 1990 (ARF-B)
                 C. Prints from "L'Age D'Or De La Marine A Voile" by Jean Meissonnier (ARF-C)
                 D. From the website of the Scheepvaart Museum, Amsterdam (ARF-D

                3. Frederic Roux 
                 A. From "The Artful Roux" by Philip Chadwick Foster Smith (FRE-A)
                 B. From "L'Album De Marine Du Duc D'Orleans" (FRE-B)
                 C. From "L'Album de L'Amiral Willaumez" (FRE-C)
                 D. From "Dix Regards De Peintres de Marine" texte Romane Petroff (FRE-D)
                 E. Prints from "L'Age D'Or De La Marine A Voile" by Jean Meissonnier (FRE-E)     
             
                4. Francois Roux 
                 A. From "The Artful Roux" by Philip Foster Chadwick Smith (FRA-A)
                 B. From the Christie's Catalogue, Monaco, December, 1990 (FRA-B)
                 C. Prints from "L'Age D'Or De La Marine A Voile" by Jean Meissonnier (FRA-C)
                 D. From "Ships and Seascapes" by David Cordingly (FRA-D)
                 E. From "L.Empire des Mers" by Martine Acerra and Jean Meyer (FRA-E

                5. Signed F. Roux (SFR)
               
                Adendum:
                   Photographs from "L'Oeuvres de Francois Roux:
                  
 Marine Francaise de 1792 A Nos Jours" (PFRA)
                       


                  ROUX FAMILY
 

                  The Roux family of marine painters starts with  Joseph Roux (1725-1793),  who 
               took-over and developed a 
hydrographic business founded by his father in
               Marseilles which published and sold charts, 
navigation instruments and other 
               nautical gear.  He painted in oils under the name of Joseph Roux and the sale 
               of ship portraits was a side line of the shop.  Not many of his works remain.   

               Joseph had one son, Ange-Joseph Antoine (1765-1835), who followed in his                  
               father’s footsteps in the hydrographic business in Marseilles and who became a 
               prolific and successful water colourist.  With portraits of ships and other 
               Mediterranean craft,  and as a general  marine artist. The Peabody Essex Museum  
               has a collection of his ship portraits of American ships and a number of his 
               sketchbooks.  He painted under the name Antoine Roux.  He had three sons who            
               followed in the family business in Marseille and trained as painters.  He also had  
               a daughter Ursule who became a water colourist but few of her works remain.

               Mathieu-Antoine Roux (1799-1872), the first son, followed his father in working              
               on ship portraits in water colour. He signed his paintings Antoine Roux, fils (son).  
               He was not as prolific as his father or brothers.  He succeeded to the hydrographic 
               business of an uncle also in Marseilles.

               Francois Joseph Frederic (1805-1870), the second son, also followed his father as                        
               a water colourist in ship portraits.  He worked in Marseilles until 1827 when he          
               went to Paris to the atelier Vernet. About 1835, he settled in Havre and opened a 
               hydrographic shop.  In Paris, he came to the attention of Admiral Wiliaumez 
               who commissioned him to prepare a series of forty watercolours of ships in the 
               Admiral’s career.  The major part of this work was completed in 1827 and 1828. 
               Another series of twenty three watercolours dedicated to the Duke of Orleans was      
               completed in 1831.  His style changed several times over the years.  He signed his  
               paintings "Frederic Roux".  The Musee de la Marine in Paris has many of his works. 

               Francois Geoffroi Roux (1811-1882), the third son, who followed his father and 
               brothers in the family business, as a water colourist.and was probably the most 
               gifted painter of the Roux family. His paintings became more natural and less  
               stereotyped.  He succeeded his father in running the shop in Marseilles.  In 1860, 
               he relinquished the shop to his nephew Tonin (son of Antoine, fils) and lived 
               alternatively between Marseilles and Paris. In the period from 1860 to his death 
               in 1882, he acomplished much of his best work. In 1870, he was appointed as an 
               official 'Peintre de la Marine'.  In 1885, after his death, a posthumus "L'oeuvre 
               de Francois Roux: Representant Les Portraits des Navires de la Marine Francaise              
               de 1792 a nos Jours" was published with black and white photographs (plates)  
               by A. Liebert of  78 of Francois' paintings mainly of French Navy ships over             
               the period from 1792.  Some of thes plates are illustrated in an Addendum.

             

               What follows below is only a sample of the paintings of Antoine Snr and his
               three sons over a period spanning from the 1790s to the 1880s which apart            
               from the artistry are of interest to the marine historian of the development 
               of ships and Mediterranean sea and water-craft over that period.



                      SOURCES

                      Philip
Chadwick Foster Smith's
                  - The Artful Roux - Marine painters of Marseilles
                    Including: A catalogue of the Roux Family Paintings
                    at the Peabody Museum of Salem  
                    (images displayed also in M.W. & Dorothy Brewington's                   
                    "Marine Paintings and Drawings in the Peabody Museum"
     
                  Jean Meissonnier's  

                       - Sailing Ships of the Romantic Era
                         46 Water Colours and Drawings by Antoine Roux

                   
Jean Meissonnier's
                  - L'Age D'Or  De La Marine A Voile
                    A collection of 30 prints of watercolours by Antoine Roux
                    and his sons


                  L'Album de Marine Du Duc D'Orleans
                  - 23 of 23 Watercolours by Frederic Roux
                     by the Friends of the Musee de la Marine, Paris

                  L'Album de L'Amiral Willaumez
                  - 24 of 40 Watercolours by Frederic Roux
                     by the Friends of the Musee de la Marine, Paris

                  Christie's Importante Collection de Marines
                  par Antoine Roux, ses fils, Antoine, Frederic et Francois,
                  et son ecole- Monaco, 7 December, 1990

                  Dix Regards De Peintres De Marine
                  Exposition du 10 juillet ou 28 aout 2005 a Saint-BRIAC-SUR-MER
                  - 3 Watercolours by Frederic Roux and 1 by Antoine Roux

                   
                     
Other Sources:
                       - Royal Museum Greenwich - 1 watercolour and a pen and ink, ink wash  
                       - Peabody Essex Museum website - Sketchbooks of Antoine Roux - 2 water colours
                       - Wickipedia - 3 water colours
                       - Scheepvaart Museum, Amsterdam - 1 watercolour & 2 reproductions (from the
                         Maritime Museum, Rotterdam
                       - David Cordingly's "Ships and Seacapes" (Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd, London1997)
                          - 4 watercolours
                       - Martine Accerra & Jean Mayer's "L'Empire Des Mers" (Compagniedu Livre d'Art,
                         Editions Office du Livre, 1990) -3 watercolours
                       - Alfred Dudszus & Ernest Henriot's "Dictionary of Ship Types" (Conway Maritime
                         Press,  English laguage edition, London 1886) -1 watercolour
                      
                      Addendum (to be completed)


                      CONTACT
                     
                      The author, ROY FERNANDEZ, can be cotacted by email at:-

                                roy@spurlingandrouxwatercolours.com  



                 By Antoine Roux, 1801 - Sella Aurora, a Greek polacre off Marseille
                 
                From "Dictionary of Ship Types"