Ian Marshall

Scottish painter Ian Marshall’s fluid watercolors need no introduction to fans of Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century naval history.  He is widely regarded as an international authority on the subject.  His moving and detailed watercolors of well-known and obscure naval actions and vessels have been featured in four celebrated volumes, British Capital Ships, Armored Ships and Ironclads and Paddlers. His fourth book, Passage East, featuring the elegant steamships which linked Europe and the splendor of the Orient during the 19th and 20th century, received critical acclaim for its “superb artistry and scholarship,” from The New York Times. The book, Flying Boats – the J-Class Yachts of Aviation, explored the history of the fascinating machines that were part aircraft and part boat, and brought to life an era of elegant travel that transported passengers to some of the most scenic destinations in the world. His book, Cruisers and Hunting Warfare, La Guerre de Course concentrates on the evolution of the smaller class of ships that were built and operated between the American Civil War 1861-1865 and World War I, not for battle, but to hunt and destroy enemy merchant ships and supply lines.

 After 40 years as an internationally renowned architect Ian brought an unparalleled understanding of scale and perspective to his work, so that while remaining “painterly” his work retains a realism and detail that is unmatched among today’s modern ship painters.  Painting in the tradition of the great British watercolorists, he used the fluidity and subtle colors of the medium to create emotional representations of what in someone else’s hands could be a dry subject.  The fact that he painted water with a water-based medium is something not lost on him.  Of watercolor, Ian said, “It lends itself to capturing the ephemeral changing effects of weather, sea and sky.”  Whether painting Hampton Roads, Virginia or SMS Konigsburg in German East Africa, his extraordinary pictures capture moments in history with an intriguing and subtle beauty that made him one of the most respected marine artists in the past thirty years. He was a “fellow” and a past President of the prestigious American Society of Marine Artists. His painting of the P&O liner Viceroy transiting the Suez Canal in 1929 received the 2004 Rudolph J. Schaefer Maritime Heritage Award in the Mystic International Exhibition and he also was given an Award of Excellence in 2006 in the Mystic International Exhibition.

His Principal Exhibitions include: U.S. Navy Museum, Washington, DC, 1991 & 1994; Royal Society of Marine Artists’ Annual Exhibition, London, 1988, 1993 – 2005; Mystic International Exhibition, Mystic Seaport, CT, 1991, 1993-2008: J. Russell Jinishian Gallery, Fairfield, CT 1996, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2006: U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD, 1994; Maine Maritime Museum, Bath, ME, 1995; The Tryon & Swann Gallery, London, 1991,1994, 1997; U.S. Naval War College, Newport, RI 2009; Tramps & Steamers at Connecticut Maritime Association, a shipowners’ society.

Public Collections include: Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth, England; Royal Scottish United Services Museum, Scotland; Lloyds of London, England; U.S. Naval Shipbuilding Museum, Quincy, MA; U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD; U.S. Naval War College, Newport, RI; National Museum, Botswana; Maine Maritime Museum, Bath, ME; Netherlands Naval Museum; Flying Boats Museum, Foynes, Ireland