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Edward Brian Seago, RBA, ARWS, RWS (31 March 1910 – 19 January 1974) was an English artist who painted in both oils and watercolours.


Early life

The son of a coal merchant, Seago was born in
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...
and attended
Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...
. He was a self-taught artist (although he received advice from Sir
Alfred Munnings Sir Alfred James Munnings, (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund, he earned several presti ...
and Bertram Priestman) and enjoyed a wide range of admirers from the British royal family and the
Aga Khan Aga Khan ( fa, آقاخان, ar, آغا خان; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias. Since 1957, the holder of the title has been the 49th Imām, Prince Shah Kari ...
to the common man. His works have been classified as either
Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...
or
Post-Impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...
and included landscapes, seascapes, skyscapes, street scenes, his garden and portraits. When aged 14, Seago won an award from the
Royal Drawing Society The Royal Drawing Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded in 1888 in London, with the aim of teaching drawing for educational reasons. The methods of instruction were based on the idea that very young children attempt to draw before the ...
, and from then on knew what he wanted to do in spite of his parents' initial disapproval. At the age of 18, he joined Bevin's Travelling Show, and he subsequently toured with circuses in Britain and throughout Europe. In 1937, Seago gave evidence to a police enquiry into a blackmail gang in London's West End who exploited laws against
homosexuality Homosexuality is Romance (love), romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romant ...
. His statement reveals that he had a friendship with a young man in late 1936 who used a fake name and extracted money from Seago by deception. In 1939, "A Rabbit Skin Cap" by
Lilias Rider Haggard Lilias Margitson Rider Haggard, MBE (9 December 1892 – 9 January 1968) was the fourth and youngest child of the British writer Sir Henry Rider Haggard and Mariana Louisa MargitsonDawson Haggard D.,''The History of the Haggard Family in England ...
was published, with the front cover and all other illustrations by Seago.


Wartime camoufleur

Heart problems, identified at the age of seven, dogged him all of his life. He had to resort to subterfuge to join the army at the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...
on 3 December 1939, with the Army number 110235 and was employed on developing
camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
techniques for
Field Marshal Auchinleck Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981), was a British Army commander during the Second World War. He was a career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, w ...
, with whom he had a lifelong friendship. He continued painting whilst with the Army and gave paintings to those with whom he served. Major Eddy Hodges DSO of 2nd Battalion The King's Regiment may not have been alone in folding his painting so that it fitted in the pocket of his Battle Dress blouse. Edward Seago relinquished his Commission on account of ill-health whilst serving as a War Substantive Captain and was granted the honorary rank of Major on 16 October 1944.


Later career

Such was his popularity that those who wished to buy one of his paintings had to queue at his various annual exhibitions around the world (with the single exception of
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was th ...
). "The Queen Mother bought so many that eventually the artist, who died in 1974, gave her two a year – on her birthday and at Christmas.
Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...
invited him on a tour of the
Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and othe ...
in 1956, and his subsequent paintings, considered to be among his best, hang at Balmoral." Seago also created a solid silver sculpture of
St George Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...
slaying the
Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted a ...
, which serves as an automobile mascot for any state limousine in which Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...
is travelling. The mascot can be transferred from car to car. When the monarch is not aboard, it is substituted with the symbol of the manufacturer, such as the
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
Spirit of Ecstasy or the
Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, Nort ...
"B". Seago settled in East Anglia with Peter Seymour, his lover and studio assistant, who was in artist in his own right.


Legacy

Seago died of a brain tumour in London on 19 January 1974. In his will he requested that one-third of his paintings currently in his Norwich studio were to be destroyed. There remain about 19,000 water colours and 300 oil paintings worldwide. A major retrospective of his work was held in autumn 2008 in London, as was a Sky Arts 2 television series about Seago fronted by Selina Scott. A Seago exhibition was held at the Portland Gallery, which represents Seago's estate, in June and July 2012. Another exhibition was mounted in June and July 2014.


Bibliography

Seago's published works include: * ''Circus Company'' (1933) * ''Sons of Sawdust'' (1934) * ''The Country Scene'' (1936 – forty-two paintings accompanying
John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ''The Box of Delights'', and the poem ...
's poetry) * ''Tribute to the Ballet'' (1937 – again in conjunction with Masefield) * ''Caravan'' (1937) * ''A Generation Risen'' (1942) * ''Peace in War'' (1943) * ''High Endeavour'' (1944) * ''With the Allied Armies in Italy'' (1945) * ''A Canvas to Cover'' (1947 – Autobiography) * ''Tideline'' (1948) * ''With Capricorn to Paris'' (1956)


Further reading

* Goodman, J. ''Edward Seago. The Other Side of the Canvas''. Collins, 1978. * Goodman, J. ''Seago – A Wider Canvas: The Life of Edward Seago with Writings by his Brother, John''. Erskine Press, 2002. * Ranson, R. ''Edward Seago''. David & Charles, 1987. * Ranson, R. ''Edward Seago: The Vintage Years''. David & Charles, 1992. * Reid, J.W. ''Edward Seago: The Landscape Art''. Sotheby's Publications, 1991. * Russell, J. ''Edward Seago''. Portland Gallery/Lund Humphries, 2014.


References


Bibliography

*


External links

*
Portland Gallery are proud to represent the estate of Edward SeagoFifty-six of Seago's paintings courtesy of John FullerWorks by Seago at the Portland Gallery
* ttps://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1554 Papers of Edward Brian Seagoheld at
Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seago, Edward British Army personnel of World War II Royal Engineers officers Military personnel from Norwich 20th-century English painters English male painters World War II artists Artists from Norwich People educated at Norwich School 1910 births 1974 deaths Camoufleurs British war artists People from Brooke, Norfolk Members of the Royal Society of British Artists 20th-century English male artists