Listing Details
John Cleveley Junior, or The Younger (1747 -1786), was known as this as his father had the same name and profession. Cleveley and his twin brother Robert were British artists and marine painters. Their expertise was to create pictures that could become etchings for reproduction . These would at times be hand painted with water colour after being printed.
He trained under the artist Paul Sandby at Woolwich. Sandby was draughtsman for Joseph Banks on his journey to the Hebrides, Orkney, and Iceland. Some of his watercolour sketches are held in the British Museum collections. John Cleveley was employed by Sandby to turn drawings made on Captain Cook’s second voyage to the South Seas (1772–75) into engravings. Later he also worked on images from Cook’s third voyage, (1776-80) again to turn them into engravings.
Despite going on neither expedition personally, John moved fast to cash in on the new demand for South Seas images, producing images for the print market such as The Death of Cook, and HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery at Moorea.
John abandons his father’s documentary style and stiffness, preferring instead to show a more atmospheric, open view, with low horizons reminiscent of 17th-century Dutch Golden Age of marine art.
Image Dimensions: 590mm W x 460mm H
Framing: Unframed
Condition Note: This is a stunning work but its age is evident in its condition. Please refer to conservator's report December 2021
