A fine marine oil painting of fishing boats off a harbour in a stiff breeze by William Calcott Knell. To the centre right of the painting, two fishermen can be seen on the deck of a large, brown-sailed fishing smack. As they haul in their nets, a rowing boat passes alongside containing two other fishermen seemingly unfazed by the choppy water. Meanwhile other boats sail in and out of the busy harbour. The topography and skyline is similar to that of Great Yarmouth which Knell is known to have painted views of.

William Calcott Knell was a painter of marine scenes who was born in Lambeth, Surrey in 1830. He was the oldest child of the marine artist William Adolphus Knell (1805-1875) and his first wife Susannah Ann McKirdy. His younger half-brother Adolphus Knell (b.1849 fl. 1860-1880) also became a seascape artist. He lived with his family at Highgate Hill in Lambeth and was most likely taught art by his father, as their style and subject matter bear similarities. His mother died in 1841 and his father remarried in 1846, later moving the family to Rose Cottage in Highgate Rise.

Knell specialised in seascapes usually featuring fishing boats off the English coast and painted in both oil and watercolour. He made his debut at the Royal Academy in 1848, from Rose Cottage with ‘French fishing boats off Broadstairs’. He also exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists and the British Institution.

He married Maria Church on 27 March, 1859 at St Mary’s Church, Lambeth. The couple moved to George Street, Lambeth where their first child Eliza was born in 1860. By 1871 he had moved to Gordon Terrace off Strahleven Road where he lived for a number of years. He died at Camberwell in 1880 and was buried at Abney Park Cemetery, Stock Newington, where his father was also buried a few years prior.

A number of his works can be found in art galleries and museums, including the Beecroft Art Gallery, Ferens Art Gallery, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Harris Museum and Portsmouth Museum.

© Benton Fine Art