363 - Henry Stacy Marks, RA RWS,

Henry Stacy Marks, RA RWS, British 1829-1898- View of boats on the shore; watercolour on paper, signed and dated 'H.S. MARKS 1868' (lower right), 16 x 23 cm. Provenance: The Estate of John Byrne (1945-2025). Note: Henry Stacy Marks's artistic inclination started to manifest when, still at school, he would learn to paint coats of arms and other heraldic elements to help his father, a carriage maker. He then studied at the Royal Academy in London, at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and trained with several artists in their studios. Early in his career he focused on painting Shakespearean and medieval subjects, and later mainly in scenes of birds and ornithologists. However, his decorative painting training, acquired while decorating carriages, would never abandon him. He would create designs for Minton pottery, for stained-glass producers Clayton and Bell, and most notably, for friezes at the Royal Albert Hall and at the house of major Dutch painter Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912). Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, was his most prominent patron.