Charles Pears

Charles Pears RI ROI[1] RSMA (9 September 1873 – 28 January 1958) was a British painter, illustrator and artist. His work was part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics.[3]

Charles Pears
Born(1873-09-09)9 September 1873[1]
Pontefract, Yorkshire
Died28 January 1958(1958-01-28) (aged 84)[1]
Truro, Cornwall[2]
NationalityBritish
Known forNaval and marine art
Battleship HMS Howe in Suez Canal by Charles Pears

Biography

Born in Pontefract, Yorkshire, he studied nearby at East Hardwick and Pomfret College,[2][4] where he started a lifelong appreciation of Canaletto.[5] Active from 1890, he worked as an illustrator throughout his career. His early illustrated works were included in periodicals such as The Yellow Book, Punch, The Graphic and Salt-Water Poems and Ballads by John Masefield.[2]

Pears is best known as a marine painter, where he often signed his work as Chas Pears. Pears was the first elected President of the Royal Society of Marine Artists.[2] His works were exhibited from 1904 to 1939 in London having moved there, and he also wrote a number of books on small boat cruising.

A commissioned officer in the Royal Marines during the First World War, Pears worked also worked as an official War Artist during both the First and Second World Wars.[2] His Second World War poster entitled "MV San Demetrio gets home" was issued by the Post Office Savings Bank,[6] with the original artwork presently part of the collection of the National Maritime Museum.

From 1913 to 1936, Pears was a prolific poster artist, working for London Underground.[7] He also created posters for the Empire Marketing Board,[1] the Metropolitan Railway, Southern Railway, London, Midland & Scottish Railway, London & North Eastern Railway and Great Western Railway. He latterly created works for British Railways.

Pears moved to Saint Mawes, Cornwall in semi-retirement, and died in Truro on 28 January 1958.[5]

Today his artworks are held in the collections of the London Transport Museum,[7] National Maritime Museum, National Railway Museum,[8] Imperial War Museum,[9] and Tate.[10] He is commemorated in a prize at the Royal Society of Marine Artists, the Charles Pears Memorial Award.[5]

Publications
  • From the Thames to the Seine (Chatto & Windus, London, 1910)
  • From the Thames to the Netherlands: A Voyage in the Waterways of Zealand & Down the Belgian Coast (Chatto & Windus, London, 1914)
  • South Coast Cruising – from the Thames to Penzance (Edward Arnold, London, 1931)
  • Yachting on the Sunshine Coast (Southern Railway Company, 1932)
  • Going Foreign (Edward Arnold, London, 1933)

References
  1. "PEARS, Charles". Who Was Who. A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  2. "Mr. Charles Pears". The Times. 30 January 1958. p. 10. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  3. "Charles Pears". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  4. Benezit, Emmanuel (2012) Benezit Dictionary of British Graphic Artists and Illustrators , p202, Oxford University Press
  5. http://www.smallcraft.net/research/the_sailors/charles_pears/
  6. "Art.IWM PST 16448 – San Demetrio Gets Home". Imperial War Museum Collections Search. 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  7. Artist – Charles Pears, London Transport Museum website. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  8. Collections Online – Pears, Charles Archived 13 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Science Museum Group. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  9. Imperial War Museum Collections Search for "Charles Pears", iwm.org.uk Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  10. "Charles Pears". Tate. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
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