George Edward Horton: The Launch of H.M.S. ‘Victoria’ from the Elswick shipyard of Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth and Co. Ltd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1887

George Edward Horton: The Launch of H.M.S. ‘Victoria’ from the Elswick shipyard of Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth and Co. Ltd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1887, watercolour and pencil heightened with white, showing the launch, with crowds on stands lining the shore, signed and dated ‘GEHorton’ 87 (lower left), paper label on the reverse revealing the provenance.

Provenance:  ‘This picture was presented to Colonel C. F. Hitchins, D.S.O. by James Stewart O.B.E. on the 1st August 1934 on the occasion of the sale of Armstrong Whitworth Shipyards to the National Shipbuilders Ltd. for breaking up’.

Footnotes: HMS Victoria was the lead ship in her class of two battleships of the Royal Navy. On 22 June 1893, she collided with HMS Camperdown near Tripoli, Lebanon, during manoeuvres and quickly sank, killing 358 crew members, including the commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon. One of the survivors was executive officer John Jellicoe, later commander-in-chief of the British Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland.

George Edward Horton (British, 1859-1950) from North Shields was a member of the Bewick Club and the Cullercoats Artists’ Colony.  He is known for landscape, marine and Dutch coastal scene painting.  He exhibited widely in the North travelling frequently to Holland from the 1890s and finally moving to London in 1918.