MARINE ART: JOHN GROVES work has stolen most of the thunder of the show for the past few years. One reason for this lies in both his treatment and subjects, which tend to depart from the conventional concepts and , often enough, are enhanced by some human interest , without either crowding his pictures or introducing confusing architectural detai 1-a popular trend now . The odd thing is that his work does not stem from some inborn love of the sea, or from particular associations with it. As a boy , he was interested in ships (as boys so often are) and , living within
easy reach of the Thames at Greenwich, was in a position to see such ships as still came up the upper reaches. But even then the London river was a-dying. The National Maritime Museum , of course , became a magnetic attraction, although he had little enough time to think much of ships while studying at art school. When he was qualified, he turned his hand to book jackets and illustrations quite divorced from the sea , having a natural gift for figure drawing. Then, gradually, unprompted by anything in particular, the interest in ships
At left, John Groves in his studio. Below, his gutwrenching view of the death of a ship embayed on a hostile shore-a picture of every deepwaterman.' s nightmare.
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returned. His first efforts, submitted to the RSMA, were never seen by the public , since they bounced back . Realizing that his technical knowledge of ships was probably at fault, John Groves went through a self-imposed crash course, not only in their working, rigging and construction (and he is now just as much at home in one era as another, with large or small vessels) but , after intensive study of the great artists of the pastBrooking, Backhuizen, Pocock , Serres and Cooke being a few of his favoriteshe started to paint what he wanted, with an emphasis on light , moods and, perhaps, a modicum of drama . Most of his work is commissioned. This has its restrictions, since it entails meeting the purchasers ' requirements. But all his works are stamped with his own artistry. The picture illustrated , of four men at a ship 's wheel , is splendid . My first reaction was to ask what ship she was , assuming her to be French (si nce that country most commonly sported a double wheel aft) but , like the picture of the wreck breaking up , it was no particular vessel. In both cases, the picture is right. There is an element of drama, and a feeling for the play of light which rivets one's gaze. Then again, one asks "Where is this?" It is nowhere in particular, in fact, but John Groves is too polite to say that it doesn ' t matter a damn where it is! The brig discharging on the beach-any beach- his many paintings of fishermen , with the people all about their normal business, though none of them intruding , give his pictures a splendid atmosphere. Many might suppose that the Battle of Trafalgar had been done to death, having been , it seems, a compulsive exercise for every marine artist ever since it occurred. Graves's picture , at the outset of the battle as the Victory heads for Villeneuve' s Bucentaure, is, in my estimation , a masterly piece of composition, for it is this very ability to compose, coupled with hi s draughtsmanship and uriderstanding of light, which give his work a cachet all its own. For all his " long-shore '" background, he has achieved a miraculous understanding of the relationship between ships, seas and skies. In no case that I have seen is there any jarring note whatever. Each is "right" and with an individual treatment which, at all events when he is painting " out of his head ," owes nothing to anyone. So much has been painted already that old ideas and styles must inevitably intertwine with the new, yet here is a man who is sai ling his own course , leaving many in hi s wake . ..i.. SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86