John Warkup Swift (1815-1869)
The Ascension Day Regatta
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size without frame: 17.5" x 31.5"
Size including frame: 23.2" x 27.2"
SOLD
John Walkup Swift was a respected artist of the North East, painting mainly marine scenes. This is a most unusual example of his work of a rowing regatta on the Tyne. The Tyne's first known official boat race was in 1821 with the first Ascension Day regatta in 1830. The regattas helped transform rowing into a suitable hobby (for gentlemen...) The golden era of rowing on Tyneside was the 1840s to 1880s. Detailed on a label on the reverse as "The Ascension Day Regatta" in their obituary of Swift, Art Journal (1869, No.91) cite this painting among Swift's principal paintings. The Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead hold a very similar work by this artist in their collection (The Aquatic Race). Signed and dated 1866.
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