12/10/2024 General News
Art lovers in East Anglia are very fortunate to have many fine painters of world renown that we can claim as our own, writes Daniel Smith. The region has not only attracted artists from all over the world to come and work here, but we have more than our fair share of great masters who were born and raised locally, and who now have an international reputation.
One of the most well-known – and most sought after by collectors in the saleroom – is Edward Seago. Born in Norwich in 1910, Seago was the son of a coal merchant, but went on to be a favourite of Royals.
In an age of blockbuster art exhibitions such as the current Van Gogh show at the National Gallery, we have become used to a clamour for tickets long queues, but Seago’s post-war exhibitions were among the first to see people lining up to wait to be let in.
This is all the more remarkable when you realise that he was largely self-taught as an artist (although he was mentored by East Anglian art titans Sir Alfred Munnings and Sir John Arnesby Brown).
A pupil at Norwich School, Seago was just 14 when he won an award from the Royal Drawing Society, despite his parents disapproval of his desire to become and artist. Maybe this was the reason that at the age of 18 he literally ran away with the circus, touring throughout the UK and Europe.
Despite suffering from heart problems throughout his life, on the outbreak of the second World War in 1939, Seago joined the Army, and was soon putting his artistic flair to good use developing camouflage patterns. He was eventually invalided out in October 1944, and at last felt free to pursue a full-time career as an artist.
Being self-taught, he developed his own style, which proved very popular. Described as a ‘very English’ painter, he nonetheless successfully combined traditional subject matter with innovative, impressionistic, fluid brush techniques. The result is that his works seem spontaneous, capturing the mood of the moment in which they were painted, whether vibrant or reflective.
Seago achieved real success later in his career, notably being the favourite of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, giving her a picture on her birthday and at Christmas for many years. He also created a solid silver sculpture of St George slaying the dragon, which to this day serves as the automobile mascot for any car in which the sovereign is travelling. He was the official artist for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
Seago died in London in 1974 of a brain tumour, aged just 63, and his ashes were scattered over his beloved Norfolk marshes. His will stipulated that a third of the paintings in his Norwich studio were to be destroyed, a wish which was respected. However, after a lifetime of painting, around 300 oil paintings and 19,000 watercolours remain in existence, along with numerous pen and ink sketches and notebooks.
Whenever works by Seago come up for auction they are always in demand. His oil paintings in particular sell for thousands, but even sketches will fetch hundreds of pounds. The combination of his stunning technique and his accessible subject matter will ensure he remains one of the giants of East Anglian art for many years to come.