"British Battleships at Anchor; 1917""

Fine Print on Paper or Canvas

Image size 8 1/2 x 15 inches (21.5 x 38 cm)

Editions are unlimited

Paper: Image size: 8 1/2 x 15 inches (21.5 x 38 cm)Paper size: 12 1/2 x 19 inches (32 x 48 cm)

Prints on paper have a 2 inch/2 1/2 (5/6.5 cm) white border around the image with the title and artist's name printed beneath the image.

Unframed prints on paper are supplied rolled in strong cardboard tubes. Framed prints on paper are supplied (UK only) framed in our silver and black flat frame (see Framing tab, below) with off-white, acid-free mount and glass.

Canvas, varnished: Image size: 8 1/2 x 15 inches (21.5 x 38 cm) Canvas size: 12 1/2 x 19 inches (32 x 48 cm)

Unframed canvas prints have a 2 inch (5 cm) white border around the image and are supplied unstretched, rolled in strong cardboard tubes.

Framed prints on canvas are supplied (UK only) framed in our silver and black flat frame (see Framing tab, below) with a white slip and no glass.

All prints are supplied with a signed and numbered certificate of authenticity.

Original Water Colour 6 x 10 1/4 inches (15 x 26cm)

SOLD -Purchased by a British Private Collection

This beautiful water colour is one of the most atmospheric paintings of First World War ships that we have seen.

Painted in the grim year of 1917, it gives a wonderful sense of the power of a battle fleet after three years of total war. The murky, dying light sets off the heavy grey shapes of the enormous ships outlined in the fog and smoke. A couple of the larger ships seem to be Queen Elizabeth Class battleships; four ships of that Class of five had suffered terribly at Jutland the previous year. The location is not known but may be Scapa Flow.

The artist of this exceptional work, Guy Standing, lived the most extraordinary life. He found considerable fame as an actor and was knighted for his First World War service in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

As can be seen from this atmospheric painting, he was also an extremely gifted painter in water colour.

Guy Standing was born in London in 1873 to a father who was an actor. Educated at Eltham College, he tried his luck as an actor in London but had no success. It is believed he worked his way back to Newcastle, where his family was then living, by ship; his Who’s Who entry records that he served a year at sea in 1889.

A second attempt at acting succeeded and Guy made his professional debut in London in 1890, after which he toured Australia, New Zealand and, in 1893, the United States, where he remained until 1907.

He returned to America in 1913 and was making a film when war loomed. Obtaining his release from his contract, Guy returned to Britain on the 4^th of August 1914, when he was already over forty, and volunteered for war service.

Presumably because of his year at sea, he was commissioned into the RNVR as a lieutenant and given command of His Majesty’s Patrol Yacht, No. 18. Standing served a year and 2 months at sea on patrol and transport work and then was seconded to the naval intelligence division of SIS in October 1915.

In May 1917 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and was transferred by the Admiralty to the Ministry of Information in December 1917.

In 1918 Guy Standing was part of the British War Mission to the United States, with responsibility for organisation and control of the special communication and code section. For this service he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1918 and knighted as Knight Commander the following year.

Having re-made a successful stage and film career, Standing moved to Hollywood in the early 1930s, working for Paramount films. His most famous part is considered to be his portrayal of Colonel Stone in the 1935 film “Lives of a Bengal Lancer”.

Standing died in Hollywood as the result of a bite from a Black Widow spider (not a rattlesnake as is often reported).

Standing’s family was extremely theatrical; his father and his three brothers were all actors, his third wife was an actress and a son and daughter were also in the profession. Guy’s grandson is the very distinguished British actor John Standing.

Copyright: Charles Mayes, 2019

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