Carmichael, John Wilson (1800 – 1868)
About the Artist: The son of a shipwright from Newcastle upon Tyne, John Carmichael gained first hand knowledge of the sea at an early age when he spent three years on a merchant vessel plying between Spain and Portugal. Upon his return he was apprenticed to a shipbuilder.
By 1823, Carmichael had become a full time artist; though largely self-taught, he was probably a friend of Thomas Miles Richardson, the leading Newcastle painter of his day. Carmichael soon established himself as a much sought after marine artist; many patrons were drawn to the Romantic element of his work, as he devoted considerable attention to changing weather conditions and dramatic scenery.
His first exhibited picture was at the short lived Northunberland Institution for the Promotion of Fine Arts; he began to exhibit at the Royal Academy in 1835. He subsequently exhibited almost every year, either at the royal Academy or the British Institutionm until 1862.
Moving to London, he worked for the Illustrated News and covered the events of the Russian War. Over 40 engravings were published from his drawings and he left a journal of the events.