HMS Pickle, a new yarn to add to the thread of the renowned schooner Pickle of unlikely name and much disputed origins, the Pickle which heroically carried the news of the battle of Trafalgar and the death of Nelson (”Sir, we have won a great victory but we have lost Nelson“) is splendidly illustrated as a Heritage quality, signed numbered edition picture in “I have urgent dispatches“.
We are rarely able to see Gordon Frickers artwork in its final location so this is a treat!
With special thanks to Simon Brody of the yacht “Pickle“, a yacht which you may soon agree has more reason than most to carry the proud if bizarre name of Pickle, hails from Pickle’s home port of Plymouth Devon, we have here a rare photo of a heritage print in its final location and a charming new story about a Pickle in a Pickle.
Why?
Simon’s yacht is also named Pickle, and?
So what?
So story time;
The famous schooner Pickle being a Plymouth ship (originally named “Sting” and a cutter before purchased into the Royal Navy and converted to a schooner at Plymouth, Devonport Royal Dockyard), certainly was based at Plymouth, quite likely built at or near Plymouth as a smuggler (see my “further reading” notes on the subject or ask by email here); this despite some very unproven, unsubstantiated claims for her to have been built at Bermuda, lived 8 years in the British Royal Navy.

Those brief years  included carrying the news of one of the most momentous naval battles of all time, Trafalgar,  as illustrated so dramatically in the Gordon Frickers  picture “I have urgent dispatches“.

Simon’s yacht is called Pickle because aside from hailing from Plymouth she has a powerful connection with Devonport Royal Dockyard where you will recall, the famous schooner Pickle was based and converted.

The yacht Pickle’s first owner was for some years the Port admiral.

The tale gets better!

He was Admiral Robert (Bob) Gerkin so (you have guessed it?) his nick name in the service was naturally pickle!

Gordon Frickers had the pleasure of knowing Bob quite well for some years.

Bob attended Gordon Frickers series of 10 2 hour interactive talks on Nelson as a role model.

Bob very kindly arranged a tour of the Dockyard for the artist who found himself with a lieutenant commander for a guide, a 4 star staff car at his disposal, and a lot of people saluting just in case he was really important, a great day out, thanks Bob!

http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/urgent_dispatches.html

~

Simon wrote:

Dear Gordon,
Here is a photo of the print of your “I Have Urgent Dispatches” mounted in the main cabin of our Moody 35, Pickle of Millbay.
The print on the left is our Pickle dressed overall to celebrate the arrival of the Olympic Torch to Weymouth in August 2009.
Plenty of signal flags!
With kind regards,
Simon Brody

You have here a chance to add a copy of I have urgent dispatches to your collection by phoning Frickers +44 (0) 1865 52 2435 or ordering securely and easily online using Paypal on page

http://www.frickers.co.uk/prints.html

For some years now friends have been asking me to paint and print the opposite view, from the French flagship, to make a pair, neat idea but the research proved very illusive.

Do have a look at the beginning of this historic painting and be one of the first people to to see pretty much what the French saw from their flag ship Bucentaure on that fateful Monday 21st October 1805.

After much extensive reading, visits to various sources in England and France and help from several kind people with the research I have at last been able to get as close to the original moment as I think is possible.

The journey researching this painting uncovered some new information and made several mysteries and myths from Trafalgar clearer.

Examples being:

1. If the British fleet was described as “not in regular order“, what did that mean?
2. How much did Villeneuve anticipate Nelson’s plan, his ‘new’ Nelson Touch?

As I have to leave for Monaco tomorrow I am not going to write much here but will reveal more as this  marine painting progresses.

To the above questions, I discovered the British fleet were spread over some 4 x 4 nautical miles and roughly in 4 columns.

What did Admiral Villeneuve expect Nelson’s plan of attack to be?

The answer is he expected exactly what he got.

What did he do or not do about it?

That’s another question for which I now have detailed and some times surprising  answers but will leave for another day.

I will furnish the story and proofs soon from French and Spanish sources, there will be surprises!

~

This new marine painting which is the same dimensions as the original Trafalgar Dawn 12″ x 48″ (305 x 1219mm), it seems is destined to be very well received in France.

The Trafalgar Dawn prints sizes are smaller than the original marine painting (now in a private collection) given approximately on page

http://www.frickers.co.uk/prints.html

together with a user friendly, easy and secure ordering system based on PayPal.

Already people in France are saying “you must show “Trafalgar, Nelson’s plan…” in the Musee Maritime, Paris”; very kind of them but easier to say than do, please write to the museum with a request now that would help!

Why would the Musee Maritime, Paris be interested in “Trafalgar, Nelson’s plan…“?

Napoleon’s attitude was Trafalgar did not happen, did not matter.

In France people still use the phrase “the catastrophe of Trafalgar“.

The painting draws attention to Trafalgar, the French perspective, a rather different story to the one told by the British.

For anyone familiar with the British accounts of Trafalgar this will be a tale of surprises, great courage miss management and plain old fashioned bad luck.

~

What’s happening to this painting?

Trafalgar, Nelson’s plan… is of course in a very early stage of development.

At present it does not have a buyer and is provisionally intended unless snatched up before, for the exhibitions next year at the European Parliament and City of Plymouth.

I only wish I could spend more time on this painting.

Now the research is complete I am very keen to finish the painting.

However I do intend it finished by the end of November.

You are seeing the British fleet marked out in as close to the correct positions and distances as 10 years of research and careful assessment of the evidence can make so.

You are one of the first people in over 200 years to see this sight.

Partly so as not to accidentally paint out a British ship I have while working from a series of  preparatory drawings, marked a letter for each ship in the “sea”.

Once the sky is sorted out I’ll ’submerge’ the letters.

The uniforms of the French have all been researched and another long trial!

It is quite well know that the French were into uniforms years before the British.

However it seems that although Naploean had naval uniforms re designed well before Trafalgar it seems not everyone wore the regulation dress.

However, here we are on a flagship, the 80 gun ship of the line Bucentaure so might reasonable expect most of the uniforms to be correct.

It’s not so easy as surviving journals indicate on the 21st some wore their full dress uniforms while others wore their undress uniforms (working cloths).

We do know what Villeneuve looked like and what he wore.

You can see him standing at the centre of a group of officers, about to accept a telescope.

What these men were thinking, how they had gotten into this situation and how they felt about this is all part of the coming story.

available as a signed numbered edition from page: http://www.frickers.co.uk/prints.html ~ you can order easily and securely on line using PayPal.

Trafalgar’s Last Chapter—HMS Pickle’s Moment here were many stories written about the Battle of Trafalgar. One of the most remarkable was the account of the smallest Royal Navy ship involved in that history-changing event. Her origin is murky, but she was probably built in a commercial boatyard in Bermuda. Around the turn of the 19th century, she could well have been used for trade along America’s Atlantic coast and for inter-island trade in the West Indies.
Her cedar hull, just under 100 feet in length overall and a displacement of 38 tons, was powered by a generous topsail schooner rig, making her both sturdy and fast. Her original name was Sting, and she is believed to have been seized with other merchant ships in the harbor when the British captured the Dutch island of Curaçao in 1800.
Eventually she was officially purchased by a British owner and then turned up in the Royal Navy as an armed tender. The Royal Navy renamed her Pickle, a word that was possibly chosen because it was part of a place name in Britain’s Plymouth area, but it might also have been in reference to the English custom of calling a rambunctious youngster “a pickle.”
The ten-gun HMS Pickle went to work doing what ships of her type did in the Royal Navy of the time, including inshore reconnaissance, suppressing privateers, rescuing crews from foundering ships, and carrying dispatches. And it would be in the latter role that Pickle had her moment in history.
As the smallest warship in Admiral Lord Nelson’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, she was not directly involved in the horrific combat action at Cape Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. During that bloody battle between the British and the French-Spanish Combined Fleet, Pickle stood off and supported the ships-of-the-line that were the main combatants. In addition to supporting the British ships, history notes that Pickle and boats from the larger British ships came to the aid of the survivors of the French Achille when that ship exploded. During that event several hundred men and two women were saved.

Immediately following the battle, Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, who had been second in command under Nelson, selected Pickle and her young captain, Lieutenant John Lapenotière, to get the news of the British victory and Nelson’s death to London with dispatch. Timely knowledge of events, such as the Battle of Trafalgar, were not only newsworthy, but could be of strategic value if it was received quickly.

{illustrated here, the painting} Death of Nelson by Daniel Maclise (1806-1870)

For Lapenotière’s mission, speed was essential, and the dispatches were handed to him with Collingwood’s admonition that “a moment’s time may not be lost in their delivery.”
The signal “I have urgent dispatches” was two-blocked at the top of Pickle’s mainmast, and Lapenotière set off for London on 26 October. The signal flying from her mainmast would have earned deference from any Royal Navy ship encountered on her mission. It would also have attracted very special attention from any French or Spanish warship.
After clearing Gibraltar, and racing northwards, Lapenotière was confronted by a violent storm off the Bay of Biscay. It was the kind of weather a small ship would normally avoid. But Lapenotière drove Pickle on through the gale and threatening seas, and when the ship began taking on a dangerous amount of water, he resorted to jettisoning her guns.
After clawing his way past the Bay of Biscay, Lapenotière was ironically faced with the opposite problem: light airs. With an easterly breeze, he was faced with a long beat to his original destination—Plymouth. Relying on his judgment as a seaman (Collingwood had given his young captain discretion concerning where to land on Britain’s Channel coast), Lapenotière chose a more westerly course and headed for the smaller port of Falmouth. Given the sailing conditions, traveling overland likely would be faster than extending Pickle’s transit to Plymouth by sea. Lapenotière also knew that there was reliable coach service between Falmouth and London.
On Monday, 4 November, Pickle eased into Falmouth, having covered more than 1,000 miles under extreme conditions in slightly more than eight days. Its successful completion was a tribute to Lapenotière’s determination and seamanship and to Pickle’s speed and seaworthiness.
Within an hour of his arrival, Lapenotière hired a post-chaise and departed for London. Racing through the countryside at breakneck pace, his horses were swapped out every ten to fifteen miles. He arrived at what is now known as the Old Admiralty at Whitehall at 0100 on 6 November, having covered more than 270 miles in about 37 hours—a remarkable feat in a post-chaise.
Collingwood’s dispatches were then delivered directly to William Marsden, Secretary of the Admiralty Board. Lapenotière’s statement as he handed the messages to Marsden reflected the seamen’s way of saying a lot with few words: “Sir, we have gained a great victory. But we have lost Lord Nelson.”

In contrast, Collingwood’s description of the action at Trafalgar put Nelson’s death first: “The ever to be lamented death of Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson, who, in the late conflict with the Enemy, fell in the hour of victory, leaves me the duty of informing my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that on the 19th instant it was communicated to the Commander-in-Chief from the Ships watching the motions of the Enemy in Cadiz, that the Combined Fleet had put to Sea.” The message went on to provide a summary of the action at Trafalgar.
The First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Barham, was notified right away, and copies of Collingwood’s messages were made quickly. Prime Minister William Pitt received word at 0300, by 0700 the King was notified, and by end of day a special London Gazette edition proclaimed the news to the public.
Following the Battle of Trafalgar, Pickle returned to her Royal Navy duties, including close reconnaissance of Brest harbor during a blockade by Admiral Cornwallis, the capture of an 18-gun French privateer off the Lizard, and the rescue of more than 600 crewmembers from HMS Magnificent after that ship ran aground.

On 27 July 1808, Pickle met an untimely end when she was wrecked on a shoal at the entrance to Cadiz harbor. Her Royal Navy career was ended, but for eight days in October and November 1805, she had played an important and unique role in the events that shifted the balance of power at sea for the coming century.

~

Rear Admiral Joseph F. Callo, USNR (Ret.) is an award-winning author and an NMHS advisor. His most recent book is John Paul Jones: America’s First Sea Warrior.

~

New York City “Pickle Night Dinner”

Every year on November 4th, the Royal Navy Warrant and Chief Petty Officers’ messes mark the Battle of Trafalgar with a special dinner to commemorate the date when news of the battle (and of Nelson’s death) reached England in HMS Pickle.

On that date in 2004, a group of Americans interested in the historic career of Admiral Lord Nelson hosted an event in anticipation of the forthcoming Bicentennial of the Battle of Trafalgar at the New York Yacht Club. Seven annual events later, the New York City Pickle Night Dinner is now well established as an annual tradition, with attendees coming from across the country and overseas. Nelson is the focus of the event, as well as the special relationships between the United States and Great Britain and between the US Navy and the Royal Navy. The American Friends of the Royal Naval Museum hosts the event, with support from the 1805 Club, the Nelson Society, and the National Maritime Historical Society. The 2010 event will be held on Friday, 12 November. Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Sir Alan Massey, will be the guest of honor and main speaker.

(For more information, contact: sallymc79@verizon.net)
New York City “Pickle Night Dinner”
(photo included here, left) The annual New York City Pickle Night Dinner takes place in the spectacular model room of the New York Yacht Club.

This is the renowned marine painting, reproduced in several learned books and considered by some leading experts the definitive marine painting of HMS Pickle, a painting from which even the prints have created a history with copies going to among others, Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, The Royal Naval Air Service and the New York Yacht Club!

I have urgent dispatches is still available as a prestige limited edition.

Signed by the artist and at very affordable prices, as are many of the other prints in the Gordon Frickers growing selection.

I’m just starting to re optimize my web site, a job that is overdue and very likely to increase sales however only The Schooner Vagrant is currently at risk of being sold out.
You can check these prints out on page http://www.frickers.co.uk/prints.html, also place your order securely and easily online from this page

~

Other Nelson news is the attached picture of Nelson at Gibraltar, while still a long way from finished as you can see from the following pop up pics, Nelson at Gibraltar is beginning to be detailed so completion is probably only about 20 hours away ~ but it has to compete with the Samuel Plimsoll for my attention!

As usual with my significant historical paintings there are some neat touches appearing.

For example when you read about this period some odd ship names keep coming up in the Mediterranean like Tartan and Xebec so thanks to my very rare copy of Serres great book guide to marine painters we have a Tartan and a Xebec in this painting.

Can you spot the Tartan and the Xebec?

Part of my intention is to recreate the business of Gibratar and it’s bay at that period hence the inclusion of the Tartan and Xebec.

Who knows which is which and what they were?

Of course the rigging of Minerve is barely started and the rigging on most of the other ships are incomplete however there is now enough detail to begin to guess how this marine painting will turn out particularly if you have had a long look at some of the pop up details on www.frickers.co.uk in the marine gallery.

Nelson is beginning to be identifiable, the uniforms of the Marine guard I think are correct (you know some thing I don’t? If so please speak up!) as are many other clothing details and away in the middle distance we can now see crew at work on the 74 gun ship of the line HMS Captain.

I hope by now if you are unfamiliar with my marine art you will have realised I carry out more than average research?

I consult some rather special sources and have even sailed on a square rigger which was 10 years older than the Cutty Sark!

For sure, Nelson at Gibraltar direct from me, it won’t cost the lucky purchaser anywhere near the asking price of the original of I have urgent dispatches!

Maybe that makes it a great bargain?
It’s what often happens to my paintings, I have to watch them re sold for far more than I got, ahh well, ce la vie and good luck to all the owners of my “children”.

Nelson at Gibraltar is not pre sold.

I am happy for who ever purchases, I aim to give excellent value to every clinet, my clients in turn have enabled me to have an amazing 30 years painting and I’ve learnt the ultimate compliment is I think, “I’ll buy it”!
~
I am also working on a second version of Trafalgar Dawn, this time the French view at 06.05 but it is not sufficiently advanced to  show just yet.
I have though started the drawing. So what you yawn? Give me a break mate, this has taken 7 years to research that is a detective story in it’s self!
This is going to be a famous painting, make no mistake about that.
The French I discovered refer to Trafalgar as “the catastrophe of Trafalgar“.
That said, most of their people as is not generally known in Britain, fought very bravely as did many of the Spaniards.
The French have always had a great maritime tradition as alive today as ever.
~
Thus, I was recently asked by the president of the Laperouse Society to make enquiries in England about the possibility of working with other museums dedicated to great navigators and explorers with a view to jointly raising European funding.
There are numerous historical replicas built and building in France, maybe we could involve the French in one of our Pickle nights?
~
I still love boat building.
I was super fit in my boat building and dinghy racing days, sadly I am going soft here in the Tarn ~ I must go down to the sea again…
I am being asked to helm a Wayfarer at the World Championship this year and am worrying that I’m not fit enough to cope.
I stopped sailing dinghies (mostly Laser) 4 years ago…
I wouldn’t mind a dinghy for day cruising and to keep fitter but my days of winning at national and International level are history.
A winter capsize from a Laser at Plymouth taught me that!

I’ll be in England end of May and most of June, after a brief stay in S Brittany (Loire Atlantic).
The general quality of life here in France is wonderful, the French work hard and know how to party and play, seem to like me and lots of people say “why would you ever want to go back?“

The frame alone will cost some £500.00

The painting as you can see from previous blog entries is progressing steadily.

My intention in the background is to show a busy scene, a lot of activity, a lot of life.

Unlike many marine painters, I am not shy of including people going about their daily tasks.

I think this could be partly because I am facinated by working people and partly thanks to my excellent professional training as an artist and Art Photographer.

I am some times reminded when I see  would be struggling artists (with whom I have much sympathy and always try to encourage) of John Constable’s amusing if cruel remark about self taught artists, roughly he said, ‘when I see a  self taught artist I am aware he was taught by a very ignorant person…’

Moving back to less  controversial ground, some of this work is produced wet on wet, in this case a recent example is the way the sea is painted.

There will be more work on the sea,  however the basic underlying painting is now in place showing a calm day and swell from the South West while the breeze has backed to North West as indicated by the craft shown sailing and will later be further indicated as the sea surface is completed.

At other times, particularly now detail is beginning to be added, I have to wait for paint to dry.

You can seen the beginnings of fine detail, rigging and other delicate art work appearing and maybe begin to guess how the finished art work will appear?

There are still many many hours of work before this marine painting which has also to be an historic document is completed, for example the Minerve has no gun ports yet.

There will also be some surprises yet to show, in this painting when finished…

We can though begin to see some of the crew of Minerve and the crew of Nelson’s boat and what they are about including a marine guard and some of the crew drawn up to receive Nelson, none of the figures though are as yet finished.

Each figure will be a personality, clothing, hair styles etc all have to be as correct for the period as possible.

The plan is to include much fine detail but arrange this marine painting to view well from any distance thus making it a very worthy addition to any collection of fine paintings.

I have a number of copies of portraits of Horatio Nelson and intend he will be recognisable as a figure in the stern sheets of the longboat.

The intention is to record the day Nelson transferred from HMS Captain, a 74 gun ship of the line (middle background) to HMS Minerve a frigate, French built.

Of the occasion, Nelson wrote to his wife, don’t worry, I am off on a special mission but it is not dangerous.

Little did Nelson know the adventures that lay ahead included him almost being captured.

Such was the dangerous life lead by so many men during the Revolutionary and  Napoleonic Wars…

~

What is the purpose and future for this marine painting of a bygone age?

I learnt so much about the Georgian navy back in the 1990’s when I had the unique privilege of working for HMS Victory so it seems a pity not to share, use and enjoy that experience.

This picture of Nelson started life as a sketch I drew one evening in 1998 at the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club while thinking through ideas for a scene from the voyage of the French navigator and discoverer Laperouse, at Botany bay, a painting I expect to produce this year.

Much more recently a friend and fellow painter, Chris Boddington suggested adapting the scene along the lines we now see.

It was a useful suggestion because The Trafalgar Collection, owned for the past 15 or so years by 2 gentlemen in London is now being offered for sale, prices from £10,000.00, and they asked if I might paint a  more scenes to add to the collection.

I also have a second version of the renowned “Trafalgar Dawn“, now ready to mark out, the opposite view, from the Combined Fleet…

I don’t yet know the future of this unsold painting however it could be a fine example to show at the exhibition offered me at the European Parliament, a show I have had to put off until next year mostly because of difficulties securing appropriate dates.

On the other hand, if some one makes me an offer I can’t refuse (which happened with the original “Trafalgar Dawn“)…

There have been some significant developments in this marine painting  including Gordon Frickers is able to be the first, here to show  some results of collaboration, new research into the quality of the bright yellow preferred by Nelson on his ships, more on that below…

This new marine painting is beginning to come to life with the basic structure now complete.

The ships are anchoured and moored much as they would have been following research into the original charts of the time by the artist with special thanks to the staff of H.M. Hydrographic Office Taunton for their very generous welcome and full co operation.

Still to be added, many more people, the port of Gibraltar we can safely guess,  was a busy place in Nelson’s day?

The sea still needs much work, the artist’s intention being to show a calm sea with a S W swell entering the bay, the wind having backed to a light N.E. breeze.

The harbour is yet to be populated with numerous busy small craft some under sail others under oar including some of distinctively Mediterranean types.

Plus if you used the pop up facility clicking on the picture above, I doubt if the facts escaped your notice re the lack of rigging on the ships show?

~

Following research by Peter Goodwin, Keeper and Curator of HMS Victory and author of much merit, a “recipe” was found recently in a letter from Horatio Nelson for the mix of Nelson’s bright yellow.

We may be seeing the correct colour for the first time since living memory; which means the ship Victory may have her stripes repainted.

You may be aware, following the dry docking of the then rather rotten HMS Victory and her first 20th century major overhaul in 1921/2 (partly paid for by the excellent Society of Nautical Research) HMS Victory had her white “Victorian Navy” stripes painted bright yellow because the people of the time referred to her bright yellow warlike stripes.

Fine except bright yellow in 1922 was a chrome yellow not available until about 1820 by which time you may have already deduced, Horatio Nelson had had his last day…

During the 1990’s and following a long discussion between this artist and Peter Goodwin on the origins and nature of paint, not as anorak ish as it first sounds because this was to influence a sight seen by a million plus visitors to HM Historic Dockyard Portsmouth per year,  Peter was eventually able to convince the authorities and experts that  they used the wrong yellow.

Peter is a very remarkable man who has to deal with ministries, government departments, old guard, know alls, jobworths etc.

How he does that is a story in its self!

Happily he does have some first rate colleagues who given sufficient evidence will support his some times “radical” discoveries and requests.

HMS Victory may be in for another repaint soon, can you guess why?

I’d had a problem with this yellow business for a long time.

I’d noticed a remark of Nelson’s which requested his captains immediately before Trafalgar to paint the bands on their masts black to distinguish their ships (in the smoke and confusion of battle ) from the French who guess what, had white masts…

Now why would Nelson write that if the mast of the British fleet were yellow?

I have not yet spoken again with Peter about this side issue given his latest discover re the yellow used but I have a theory for Peter…

~

The change of subject for the original sketch was suggested by Chris Boddington after he saw a Gordon Frickers original sketch in 2009.

The original sketch that inspired this marine painting was drawn one evening in 1998 in the lounge of the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club where incidentally there are two fine original examples of Gordon Frickers marine art in that lounge commissioned by and owned by the club.

The original sketch was exploring ideas for a scene during the voyage of the French explorer, navigator and discoverer, Laperouse.

In particular his visit to Botany Bay, Australia, a subject I am soon to return to having recently completed much extensive research and become a member last year of L’Association Laperouse, which is based on Laperouse home town of Albi in S W France…

There is a selection of books we can highly recommend because

A. they feature Gordon Frickers marine painting and

B. they are excellent book (not that we are biased, much), see page

http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/trafalgar.html

The books can be ordered via that page from Amazon.

The original of Trafalgar Dawn was sold about 15 years ago to a private collection however the owner has indicated he is now open to offers.

Offers can be made via Mr. 10% on this web site!

More affordable, Trafalgar Dawn is available as a superb quality numbered, signed, Prestige edition on printed canvas, from page
http://www.frickers.co.uk/prints.html
where it can be ordered 100%  securely using Paypal or by a direct bank to bank transfer.

The new Trafalgar Dawn is in an advanced stage of research and pre sketching following visits to research at Portsmouth and in Paris last December (as mentioned in this blog, early December).
As for

Nelson at Gibraltar, you can follow the development of this painting on this blog.

The painting has evolved from a drawing Gordon Frickers  made one evening in 1998 while in the member’s lounge of the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club.

Gordon was a very active member of the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club for many years and the club has 2 magnificent marine paintings of his in it’s collection.

One features the Royal Yacht Britannia HRH Queen Elizabeth disembarking, to visit Plymouth, the other shows a typical Spring Series race of the period and is very rich in details.

That original sketch was intended as an idea for a painting of the French navigator and discoverer Laperouse entering Botany Bay.

The Laperouse painting is an other currently under development after a long interval.

Gordon was researching for the Laperouse painting and Nelson at Gibraltar last November at H.M. Hydrographic Office, Taunton,  and another reason he was in Paris and at the Muse de Laperouse, Albi (Laperouse home town).

A friend of his, Chris Boddington former very successful lawyer and a skilled painter in his own right, saw the sketch last summer and suggested it would work well as a painting of Nelson transferring from HMS Captain to HMS Minerve at Gibraltar so guess what?

Since the attached pic was taken, the composition and colouring have advanced significantly.

There will be a new blog entry on this painting of Nelson and Gibraltar  in the next few days.

~

Also currently for re sale, given an offer they can’t refuse,  by clients of Gordon Frickers are the following Marine Paintings, several quite famous,  (by the way we should mention, prices often with paintings are the reverse of most cars so re sale prices are likely to be considerably more than the vendors paid or the current price of new paintings direct from the artist):

“H.M. Schooner “Pickle”, carrying the news of the Battle of Trafalgar”

“Nelson’s Column”

“Trafalgar Dawn”

“First Shots, Trafalgar”

“Nelson’s Pickle, first with the news”

“Ferriera” ex “Cutty Sark”, “Last Departure” (mentioned on this blog, 27.01.10)

~

Another  email was an invitation to go on a Dutch gallery web site ( for a fee).
The site seems to feature mostly Russian artists, some quite good.
It has no marine artist.
It did have an interesting link to a gallery in California, that set Gordon thinking…
He does not  have a list of galleries which might be worth approaching, should he have one?
Can you recommend any galleries?

Today I drove to Taunton and had an incredible day at the Admiralty Hydrographic Office research department.

I was looking for period drawings of Botany Bay (Laperouse) and Gibraltar (Nelson)  for 2 marine paintings I am planning and thanks to Guy Hannaford, what a day I had! 

The Hydrographic Office traces it’s beging to the late 18th century as a department and it’s origins I was told, to the Dutch raid on the Thames and Medway during which the Dutch navy successfully navigated difficult rivers and destroyed or carried off an embarrassing amount of British naval property. Later during the recriminations a very angry King Charles asked  how was it possible and the answer – charts.

Did the English have charts was said to be King Charles next question and no was the answer.

Buy Dutch charts was the Royal command!

Incidentally, King Charles II introduced the Dutch marine artist  William van der Velde to London as his official marine artist.

I found with Guy’s help most of what I needed including some amazing 19th century and even earlier, one dated 1770, drawings and charts.

I found myself allowed to handle original documents.

I was shown “The Coffin”, a treasure, a custom made oak case in which were stored original marine art by Serres who was official marine artist to King George III, (this post has now lapsed in modern Philistine Britain). Water colours of amazing 1 metre plus long panoramas of the French and Spanish coasts made about 1800 while aboard and to help British men of war blockading Napoleon’s Europe. 

Can you imagine a commission like that?

I was introduced to senior staff as “the famous marine artist Gordon Frickers”.

I’m not quite sure how to handle that, suggestions?

I was shown conservation techniques and a huge map dating back to the 1770’s, of the North American coast but more of that another time because it is still some thing of a secret…

That was only part of the day, what else did I see?

This would be a new project relating to work we have been doing with Plymouth University, Plymouth Maritime etc on issues such as climate change and sustainability. The angle I will be considering is how capitalism has and is driving this… More in later blogs… If you have theories, thesis etc on these issues and are interested in working with a painter in his prime, maybe we should talk?

Think about getting in touch?