Edward Duncan was apprenticed to the Robert Havells, elder and younger, the aquatint engravers, and his first independent practice as an artist was engraving coaching and marine prints for such publishers as Fores. He was not himself a sailor, and his introduction to marine painting was through William Huggins, whose pictures he engraved and whose daughter, Bertha, he married. He began to exhibit in 1830 and became a member of the New Society of Painters in Watercolours in 1834. In 1847 he resigned, to become an Associate of the Old Society of Painters in Watercolours., of which he was elected a member in 1849. His sketching tours were generally confined to the southern counties and the Bristol channel, although in 1840 he sailed across to Holland.
EDWARD DUNCAN, R.W.S 1803 – 1882
In the early 1850s he went to the Channel Islands and in 1865 he visited Italy. He also made occasional visits to Scotland and Wales. His subjects are divided between the coastal scenes, for which he is best known, and landscapes, most often in the Thames Valley. In his marine painting he often depicts rough and breezy weather and is at his most successful with wrecks, rescues and lifeboats. He was also at home with beachcombers and fisherfolk. In contrast, his Thames views are peaceful in the extreme, with punts, cattle and perhaps a distant church tower as the main points of interest. He employed strong blues and greens and was not afraid of white heightening. His drawing is generally good, perhaps as a result of his training as an engraver.
His remaining works were sold at Christie’s, March 11, 1885.
Published: Advanced Studies in Marine Painting, 1889. British Landscape and Coast Scenery, 1889.
Examples: British Museum; Victoria and Albert Museum, Haworth Art Gallery, Accrington; Blackburn Art Gallery; Cartwright Hall, Bradford; Glasgow Art Gallery
Bibliography: Walker’s Quarterly, XIII, 1923. O.W.S. Club, VI, 1928.
from H.L. Mallalieu, The Dictionary of British Watercolours Artists up to 1920, Baron Publishing, Suffolk, 1976
A Yarmouth Herring Boat
Watercolor and pencil on paper, 12 3/4 x 19 inches
Signed, dated and inscribed (in pencil, at lower left): Yarmouth Harring boat; (in pencil, at lower right): E Duncan/1849
Executed in 1849
DLA-340
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