Victorian British Painting: Thomas Bush Hardy

Thomas Bush Hardy (1842-1897) was a prominent maritime artist. His career as an artist covered a comparatively short thirty years – from the late 1860s after his return from the USA until his death in 1897. During that time he painted offshore, harbor and beach scenes in England, France, the Netherlands and Italy, Venice in particular. He was one of the few artists who took the trouble to study, understand and then reproduce all the elements of a successful marine painting. From the very start he developed an extraordinary bond with all the fishing communities he met, both in England and on the Continent. His high regard for these men and women and their way of life is evident in all his paintings. It is fascinating to compare one of his tranquil beach scenes of a Dutch fishing boat reflected in the shallows with one of a pair of trawlers in a rough North Sea, or with another of fishermen mending their nets on the Venetian Lagoon. [summary from here]