Archive of Works by Derek GardnerSee also Paintings
for Sale by Derek Gardner |
 HBM 74 gun ship-of-the-line THUNDERER Watercolour, 10 x 16 inches |
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Derek Gardner was born in 1914 and after leaving school in 1931 he studied to
become a civil engineer. He received no formal art training but had a lifelong interest in all matters relating to ships and the sea; an interest which sprang from earlier days in Glasgow where his father was the Chief Engineer of the Port of Glasgow and the Clyde Navigation Trust. In his younger days he read Southey's Life of Nelson which sparked what was to become a lifelong interest in the broad scope of naval history, particularly the French wars of the 18th and early 19th centuries. |
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In 1934 he joined the Clyde Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and later served throughout the war in the Royal Navy. In 1942 he was mentioned in dispatches for distinguished service when the destroyer "Broke" was sunk in the Mediterranean. He retired from the Navy in 1947 with the rank of Commander and resumed his career as a chartered civil engineer working for the Colonial Service in Kenya. |
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Whilst in Kenya, he devoted
much of his spare time to painting in both oil and watercolour,
working on both landscape and maritime works, some of which were
submitted for exhibition. In 1963 with the onset of his deafness
he was forced to retire from the Colonial Service. Returning to
England and an uncertain future, he began a new career as an artist,
concentrating on the paintings of maritime history for which he
has become so well known today. |
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 The 16 gun sloop ZEBRA Watercolour 4¼ x 7½ inches |
| He was elected to membership of the Royal Society of Marine Artists in 1966 and, in both 1982 and 1984 he was a finalist in the Hunting Group Art Prizes organised by the Federation of British Artists. In 1988 the Royal Society of Marine Artists accorded him the unusual honour of electing him to be an Honorary Vice President for life. |
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He came to international notice
from 1968 when he began exhibiting at the Polak Gallery in London.
A series of seven highly successful one-man exhibitions took place
at the Polak Gallery in 1972, 1975, 1978, 1982, 1987, 1990 and 1995,
each accompanied by a splendid catalogue where Derek documented
all the works on display. The gallery location in central London
meant that the Gardner paintings were finding a large enthusiastic
audience from all parts of the world, most notably in the USA. |
 HBM 38 gun frigate UNDAUNTED Watercolour, 5½ x 8½ inches |
| Although Derek was dedicated to his art his output was not particularly prolific; his method of working meant that each painting was the product of many weeks of research, design and painting, meaning that there were long gaps between the exhibitions and hungry collectors eagerly awaiting the new output at each event. His last London exhibition in 2005 – after a gap of 10 years - was on the theme of Nelson's ships, a major exhibition celebrating the Bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. |
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Today Derek Gardner is considered to be one of the leading maritime artists of his era. He received many accolades for his work and won admiration of collectors and maritime experts for his ability to portray ships with great accuracy while conveying the colour, the luminosity and all the drama of the wind and sea:
Derek Gardner's work is in a number of public collections including the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, the museums in Bermuda and Tenerife and in many private collections worldwide. |
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| Derek Gardner's work has appeared in the following
publications: · Tall Ships by Gareth Rees. Phaidon, 1978 · Dictionary of Sea Painters. Antique Collectors Club 1980 · The Windjammers by Oliver Allen. Time Life Books, 1978 · 20th Century British Maritime Painting by Denys Brook-Hart · Maler der See Peter Tamm and Others. Koehler, 1980 · The Passage Makers by Michael Stammers. Teredo Books, 1978 · The Maritime History of the World by Duncan Haws and Alex Hurst. Teredo Books,1985 · Sea History Magazine, Winter 1990 · Charleston's Maritime Heritage, 1670 – 1865 · An Illustrated History by P C Coker III. Cokercraft Press, 1987 · Architectural Digest – Feature on the collection of Tom Selleck · Longitude, 1990, colour illustrations with text by Alex Hurst. Carlstedt Forlag AB Stockholm · A Celebration of Marine Art. 50 years of the Royal Society of Marine Artists. R.S.M.A , 1996 · The Tall Ship in Art. Blandford, 1998 · Nelson's Ships: A Trafalgar Tribute. Antique
Collectors Club 2005 |
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 Derek George Montague Gardner, RSMA HBM frigate "Indefatigable" off the Citadel, Plymouth Signed Watercolour 13 x 20½ inches SOLD |
 Derek George Montague Gardner, RSMA HBM 16-gun sloop "Serpent" escorting a West Indies convoy, 1789. Signed Watercolour 8 x 12 inches SOLD |
The French bomb ketch Salamandre, 1752 9 x 13 inches SOLD |
 Derek George Montague Gardner, RSMA The Close of the Battle of St Vincent, 14 February 1797 Watercolour 10 x 17½ inches. Signed & Dated 1990. SOLD |
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 Derek George Montague Gardner, RSMA HBM 38-gun frigate "Diamond" leaving Spithead Signed Watercolour 4¼ x 7½ inches SOLD |
 Derek George Montague Gardner, RSMA HBM 28-gun frigate "Albemarle", Captain Horatio Nelson, commander from 1781 - 1783. Signed Watercolour 4¼ x 7½ inches SOLD |
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Fast Sailing; The tea clipper Halloween SOLD |
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 Derek George Montague Gardner, RSMA Nelson's Albemarle, 28-gun frigate, ex "Menagere" Oil on panel 11¾ x 15¾ inches SOLD |
All images are copyright of the artist's estate. |
See also Paintings
for Sale by Derek Gardner
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