Martyn R. Mackrill by David Messum
- 12 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Martyn Mackrill’s paintings belong to the grand tradition of marine painting in this country. Historically, he follows the great names in marine art; like others before him, he has covered fine yachts, naval engagements and mercantile shipping. But he is first and foremost a sailor, which gives his work a real edge over that of the commonplace marine artist.
He is a boat owner and, with his wife Bryony, first restored Nightfall, a delightful gaff-cutter built on the East Coast in 1910, which has allowed him to explore small coastal inlets down the Channel. He then purchased Peregrine, a beautiful Fife Bermudan-rigged yacht built in 1936, which he spent the best part of a year and a half restoring, including replacing the interior with suitable period mahogany coachwork.
He initially trained at Portsmouth College and went on to specialise in model making at Sunderland Polytechnic, a skill he still enjoys, particularly in building boat models.
He follows a tradition of marine artists such as Thomas Somerscales (1842–1927) and Arthur Briscoe (1873–1943), who, like Martyn, delighted in understanding the working parts of ships, particularly the clipper ships which went on long runs to Chilean waters to collect nitrates and brought back wonderful drawings of life on board those vessels at that time.
In Martyn’s work you will find this same attention to detail, as his knowledge of sailing and maintaining old vessels has allowed him to understand their workings. His paintings are extremely appealing, as one feels that what he achieves in watercolour and oil would certainly work in practice. He is very much a sailor’s painter.
He is lucky enough to have a partner in Bryony who adores sailing, and the two of them have cruised the South East and west coast of Britain. They have often attended the traditional classic rally at Paimpol in northern France, which, of course, is a painter’s paradise for old working craft and classics.
David Messum Fine Art has had the pleasure to represent Martyn, and since 2005 have held numerous sell out exhibitions. For me, one of the more exciting exhibitions with him was created around Erskine Childers’s book The Riddle of the Sands, while Maldwin Drummond was launching his further survey of the book, entitled The Riddle.
Martyn travelled to the Frisian Isles with his literary friend Dick Durham, and the two of them visited various sites recorded in the book to experience first-hand the passage of the Dulcibella. It was an exciting exhibition, including a number of Martyn’s etchings, as well as substantial oils and works on paper, and I feel it introduced Martyn in a new and unique way.
Sea conditions, wind strength and the setting of the sails are all at one in his pictures. Detail is laid in with the confidence of a master of his subject, so that the small details are there but do not obscure the overall impression of a vessel underway, sails trimmed to the conditions and the course she is sailing. You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy his paintings: they express a love of the sea and sailing that is for all to share.
All available works by Martyn Mackrill can be viewed below.
All works are available to buy online and from our gallery in St. James's
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