Thomas Jacques Somerscales (born in

Sculcoates Sculcoates is a suburb of Kingston upon Hull, north of the city centre, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. History Because of increased mobility of an increasing population, the parishes of Drypool, Garrison Side, Hessle Within, Mar ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

on 29 October 1842; died in

on 27 June 1927) was an English teacher, sailor, and landscape and marine painter. He is also considered a Chilean painter as he began his career as an artist there. Many of his landscapes evoke the region and many of his marine paintings feature notable events in Chilean naval history and have become patriotic national icons in that country.

Life and career

His father was a shipmaster, who sketched, and his uncle was an amateur painter. However he had no formal training as an artist and originally became a teacher in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. He joined the Royal Navy in 1863 as a schoolmaster, and served mostly in the Pacific, firstly on HMS

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

for six years, then the corvette HMS

Clio In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; ), also spelled Kleio, Сleio, or Cleo, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre-playing. Etymology Clio's name is derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλείω (meaning ...

and finally HMS

Zealous The Zealots were members of a Jewish political movement during the Second Temple period who sought to incite the people of Judaea to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Land of Israel by force of arms, most notably during the ...

, flagship of the Pacific Station. Having caught a fever in Tahiti, he was subsequently invalided ashore at Valparaiso, Chile and discharged from the Royal Navy. He settled in Chile and from 1874 teaching at

The Mackay School The Mackay School, a Chilean school located in Reñaca, Region of Valparaiso, Chile. Of Scottish origin; it was founded in 1857 by Scottish immigrants. It is considered one of the best academic institutions in the Valparaíso Region. Currently it ...

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

he started working as a professional painter. By 1893 (when he had returned to Britain) he was still being referred to in England as a "little known artist" but had gained some praise.The Academy, pg 466
/ref> Although he returned to Britain in 1892 and spent most of the following thirty-five years in his home country, he remains far better known in Chile (where his work is on display in several prestigious locations) than he is in the UK. His life's work has been detailed in the book: "Thomas Somerscales, Marine Artist" by Alex A. Hurst. He is commemorated with a green plaque on

The Avenues, Kingston upon Hull The Avenues is an area of high status Victorian housing located in the north-west of Kingston upon Hull, England. It is formed by four main tree-lined straight avenues running west off the north-north-east/south-south-west running ''Princes Ave ...

Selected paintings

File:Armada Chile 1era Escuadra nacional.jpg, The

First Chilean Navy Squadron The First Chilean Navy Squadron was the heterogeneous naval force that terminated Spanish colonial rule in the Pacific and protagonized the most important naval actions of in the Latin American wars of independence. The Chilean revolutionary gove ...

File:Combate Naval Iquique-Thomas Somerscales.jpg, Sinking of the '' Esmeralda'' at the

Battle of Iquique The Battle of Iquique was a Naval warfare, naval engagement on 21 May 1879, during the War of the Pacific, where a Chile, Chilean corvette commanded by Arturo Prat, Arturo Prat Chacón faced a Peru, Peruvian Ironclad warship, ironclad under Mig ...

File:Prat Muerte.jpg, The Death of

Arturo Prat Chacón Agustín Arturo Prat Chacón (; April 3, 1848 – May 21, 1879) was a Chilean Navy officer and lawyer. He was killed in the Battle of Iquique, during the War of the Pacific. During his career, Prat had taken part in several naval engagements, in ...

on the '' Huascar'' File:La escuadra chilena en 1879 en Valparaíso.JPG, Chilean Navy, 1879 File:Cambate Naval de Angamos.jpg, The

Battle of Angamos The Battle of Angamos () was a naval encounter of the War of the Pacific fought between the navies of Chile and Perú at Punta Angamos, on 8 October 1879. The battle was the culminating point of a naval campaign that lasted about five months i ...

References

1842 births 1927 deaths Chilean marine artists 19th-century Chilean painters 19th-century Chilean male artists 20th-century Chilean painters 19th-century British war artists 20th-century war artists Chilean war artists Chilean male painters Male painters 20th-century Chilean male artists {{Chile-painter-stub

Life and career

Selected paintings

See also

References