Fishing Boats on the Beach

Henry Stacy Marks was born in London, the fourth child of John Isaac Marks, a solicitor. He studied in London at the Royal Academy Schools and later in Paris. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and elsewhere from 1853. He was elected ARA in 1870 and became a full RA in 1878. His father’s business failed and it fell upon Henry to support his extended family and he therefore supplemented his income from painting by carrying out decorative work for various firms such as Minton and the stained glass makers Clayton and Bell. He supplied several interior schemes including the design for a frieze for the outside wall of the Royal Albert Hall, for the house of the artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema and his important patron, Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster. His earlier works were usually historical and literary, especially Shakespearian and often humorous. The present watercolour of fishing boats on a beach was probably painted on the South Coast near Lewes where he made various trips to work in the 1860s.